killer fun weekend - part II (gasparilla half marathon race report)



all smiles at mile 4

Half marathon race result breakdown 

Chip Time: 1:37:42 (garmin said 1:37:39)

Clock Time: 1:37:50

Overall: 267/4827

Gender: 50/2500

AG: 9/391

last years race report and results can be found HERE.

there used to be a 26.2 tied in with this event, but last year, the organizers decided that 2010 was the last year for the marathon. thankfully, they decided to keep doing the half marathon, so guess what happened this year? all of those runners that would have done a marathon had no other choice but to do the half so i noticed it was a little more crowded, but no big deal. it made for more competition that's for sure. i also want to point out that the 40-44 female age group is more fierce that the 35-39! just sayin'. raise your hand if you agree? 

mile 9 and feeling the heat ...and my legs are really pissed off at me

the weather was great for cycling but a little warm for running. even though the race started at 6am, while it was still dark, i could feel it heating up around mile 4. i promise i'm not whining here. i train in this heat and i'm used to it but i don't LOVE running it. i  do LOVE cycling and swimming in it way more.


one of the best race sherpa's around, Angie (aka: Bella)


 

we pulled a McGiver and set the camera on timer and used a bike seat as a tripod



race bling - front

race bling - back

 

blingity-bling

i was really surprised how well my legs felt after beating them down the day before with a 71 mile ride in the hills ...that is until around mile 10 when my legs started to feel like lead. my race sherpa, was on her mountain bike shadowing me and i told her that maybe the ride in the hills the day before wasn't such a great idea afterall. i told her i felt like i was running 10 minute miles, even though my slowest mile was mile 12 at a pace of 7:42. i focused on my music like my sherpa told me to do and just kept putting one foot in front of the other. overall, i am very happy with how i ran and i am chalking it up as a great training weekend in preparation for the Gator Half-iron distance triathlon coming up March 20th. mission accomplished!



as usual, i am VERY sore today. my quads, hammies, and left glute (never the right) are sore but a good sore not an injured sore. needless to say, no running for me today and probably not tomorrow. i did hit the weights and the bike this morning but sitting all day at work made me get even more sore, so tomorrow it looks like a great day to swim and bike.

can you believe? february is OVER! only 249 days til IMFL.

much love and peace out!

killer fun weekend – part 1

One hour Iron Bob and KC ride again – Bob came out to join KC and her Sunshine Band of Bikers (his name for us!) for the inside story on that, go visit Bob’s blog HERE. He is getting ready for IM Texas.

to start off what turned out to be an awesome weekend, we headed up to the hills yesterday (about 20 minutes from home) to get in a 70 mile ride. again, it was a perfect florida day, just amazing riding weather.  even though i knew i had a half marathon to do the next day, i just have a hard time turning down a good ride in the hills, especially with such a great group of riding friends. all week long, i kept going back and forth with myself about what my race strategy would be for the half mary that i ran today while keeping in mind that i’m also training for a 1/2 iron coming up march 20th. i rationalized that since i did PR at the clearwater half mary a month ago that my focus should be on the 70.3 so that was my thinking …beat the crap out of my legs in the hills and run the half mary on tired legs the next day. totally my idea of good training for the half iron!! 

here are some more pics of some of the bikers in the band from yesterday’s ride:

Jeff, the squirrel whisperer and my favorite Canadian, Charlie

 

Charlie wearing his Canadian jersey per my special request

and Canadian socks to match!

Charlie trying to talk the boys (the J-man and JM) into doing a race

one hour ironman Bob coming in for a landing!

killer weekend part 2 (Gasparilla half mary race report) coming up in a little while. need to get up and move around some. the soreness is setting in and i can’t sit at the computer for too long before i start seizing up.

much love and peace out!

today's funny

your eyes are not deceiving you, i am posting again ...2 days in a row! when is the last time i did that? i'm not even going to go and look back to see when that was. i mentioned in my post yesterday that i made a little video of the 50 mile ride we did on sunday. it was just me, the j-man and our neighbor jm. jm rode with us the first half. before i post the video, here is a funny story for you. i sent this video to a friend of mine (who asked for anonymity) earlier today and she emailed me back to ask if she can get that song on the video from me AND THEN SHE ASKED, are you ready for this?? "Who is that person with the white tennis shoes leading your pack? Isn't it hard riding with those kinds of shoes on a road bike??" my reply back was, "he would throw up if he knew you just called his $500 cycling shoes, tennis shoes!!" we had a good laugh and then she said i couldn't tell him and i won't but maybe he'll read this. don't worry nameless girl, you two probably won't ever cross paths and if you do and i'm there, i won't give you up, ok? by the way, these are the tennis shoes cycling shoes he had on:

this video has lots of great booty shots ...NO, not mine! seriously, even though there isn't anything special about this video, i found myself watching it several times today at work, fantasizing about being out there on my bike instead of sitting on my butt in a cubicle, staring at 2 computer screens for 8 hours. anyway, i'm done day dreaming and i'm heading out for real ride now!

here is the video with some pretty good energetic music:


much love and peace out!

summer is …

~the feel of gritty salt on your face and the salty taste on your lips after a long run or ride. yum!
~the raccoon eyes you get from your sunglasses blocking the sun.
~crazy tan lines on your legs.
~the dried spots of sweat all over the top tube of your bike.
~the white salt granules all over the straps of your helmet.
~80 degree days in february! already!
~lots of daylight time to ride a few hours outside, after work.
~dehydration cramps on your ride after work because you forgot to drink your 32 ounces of G2 throughout the day.
~not having to plan in advance what outfit and accessories you are going to need for you run or ride.
~getting caught in a lightning/thunder storm even though the radar was clear when you left home 5 minutes ago.
~100 mile rides in the hills (picture below was taken on Saturday in the hills courtesy of LM …notice the sleeveless jersey – 67 miles not 100 yet).
~my favorite time of year! i welcome it with open arms.
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now time to play some catch up and when i play catch up, i have to use bullets so here we go …

• my training has been awesome and i’ve been nailing all of my workouts (probably why i don’t have much time or desire to sit down and blog?). i feel really good mentally, physically, spiritually and all that good stuff. nuf said on that.
• for as long as i have been running marathons (since 1998), i’ve only run in Adidas and Saucony. And Saucony exclusively for the last 6 years or so …until 2 weeks ago. i had my eye on a pair of pretty in pink, k-swiss keahou II’s, so i said, what the heck, i’m going to give them a whirl.

aren’t they beautiful? oh yeah, and they are very comfortable. i still don’t think any other running shoe will ever replace my loyalty to Saucony. they are still, by far, the best running shoe i have EVER run in hands down. Saucony? are you reading this?? i’m your biggest fan.

• a couple of weeks ago, Devon from Outside PR|Sports Marketing, sent me some very cool Pearl iZUMi gear. i tried to take pics of the shorts and the top but the camera does it no justice but i did find similar matching images to show you.

the Pearl iZUMi Infinity LD shorts

the LD stands for long distance. what i absolutely love about these are all of the pockets. there are 2 zippered pockets in the back and one on each side of the shorts that fastens with velcro. i have already run in them several times and they are nice. no seams rubbing anywhere. great for storing lots of energy gels/bars or whatever you take on your long runs.

the Pearl iZUMi In-R-Cool Long sleeve

the one i received is all black with the white accents and some lime green accents on the back. it feels heavenly when you put it on, especially if you shave your arms like i do. oh wow! what a feeling. great for a 40-50 degree day.

for some reason, the running shoe picture came out pretty good.  these are the Streak II’s, a minimalist type of running shoe, which coincidentally, i’ve been wanting to try out. i had vibram’s in mind for a while but never followed up on them. i kind of can’t get past their ugliness. but these lovely PINK (do you see a theme here?) beauties are as light as feathers. the first time i ran in them, i ran 2 miles on the treadmill. i’ve read that if you aren’t accustomed to running barefoot or without a lot of cushioning, then start off with low mileage and build up gradually. then i ran 4 miles outside in them yesterday. they were very comfortable but i could “feel my feet” the last mile. not a painful feel, just aware that i wasn’t running with the very pillow like softness of my Saucony’s. and the worst part of all, i stepped on 2 acorns in the last quarter mile and that felt like an electrical shock going thru all of the nerves in my foot. these shoes are FAST and light. i don’t see myself running a marathon in them anytime soon, but i will continue to train with them on the treadmill and short distances outside once the acorns are gone. i look forward to running more with a minimalist approach, however, with an ironman looming, i don’t want to start experimenting too much with that. don’t try to fix what ain’t broke is my motto right now. if you are interested in this shoe, you can go HERE and read a really well written review on them.
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happy presidents day! i had the day off but i still went to work for about 5 hours, however, the call of the beautiful weather and my bike were too much to handle so i called it a day at noon and hauled butt home to Mandy, my favorite girl. we did a 32 mile ride in some seriously awful wind but it was a great test for me as i don’t normally ride solo and when i do, it is in a race because i have no choice. i was surprised how well i rode in the wind …ended up with an average speed of 20.4. i was pretty proud of that. here is a great 2 minute video of the wind i rode in today (trust me, you want to watch this video):

ok, maybe the wind i rode in today wasn’t THAT bad but it felt really tough. a character building kind of wind. while we are on the subject of videos, i have a fun video i put together of our 51 mile ride yesterday but that will be in the next post, which won’t be next week …maybe tomorrow? imagine that, 2 posts on back to back days. what is this world coming to?
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sending out healing vibes to my buddy Jeff at Dangle the Carrot who had a bit of a crash this weekend on his bike and to MissZ at Miss Zippy who has been fighting with a very, very cranky IT band. And last but not least, sending out healing vibes to Mark at Journeys of a triathlete father of five. No, he isn’t injured but his Garmin 310XT is and i know how attached i am to mine, so to lose it in such a tragic manner like he did (running it over with your car?) makes for some serious heartache.
much love and peace out!

KC IS A SLACKER (sometimes)!!!

yep, i admit, when i get busy, the first thing to get put on the back burner is this blog and my blog reader on google is beyond ridiculous. i will never be able to catch up with all of my favorite blogger posts, which really bothers the hell out of me. somehow i need to learn to just let that guilt go and just do what i can do with the time that i have. as i was running this morning, i was actually thinking about what a crappy blog follower i am of everyone esle's blogs. i kid you not, that was in my head while i was running. ok, letting it go now ... deep breath, deep breath. by the way, i'm doing this blog post during my 30 minute lunch because i know it will not get done when i get home from work later (***and here i am at home, 3 hours later trying to finish this post***).

i found this great article on everyman-tri website written by Scott Molina. it is his top ten tips for successful race results in 2011 (or any year really). i thought they were really good tips and worth sharing. i'm also going to comment after each one. my comments will be in this nice shade of blue.

Scott Molina's top ten tips for your best race results in 2011:

1) Get up early almost every day of your life. Nothing interferes with training at 5am except very young children. ok, been getting up super early, more like 4am, since i was about 21. no kids to worry about here so i have no excuses. even on days that i don't train early (rare), i still like to get up early. i feel like i've wasted the day if i wake up any later than 8am and i can't even remember the last time that happened.

 2) Training a lot is no excuse to eat like a pig (got this from Dave Scott). i've never used the crazy volume of training as an excuse to over eat. food is just fuel to me. i really don't enjoy the process of eating all that much. i do it because i have to. i consider this a blessing by the way.


3) Include some flexibility work daily by integrating it into other things you do - talking on the phone, eating, reading the newspaper, whatever. i do this! i stretch at work a lot. sitting tightens my ass muscles up a lot so i'm constantly reminded that i need to stretch those babies out throughout the work day.

 4) Do a little barefoot walking, gym work, running. i need to work on this one. i don't like going barefoot but have been thinking about buying some type of minimalist shoe like the vibram's.


5) 95% or more of your swim, bike, run training should be done in one of 3 zones - a) easy b) AeT - Aerobic Threshold 3) LT - Lactate Threshold. Stay out of the grey areas between these zones. doing this just fine.


6) Don't be afraid to race occasionally in training, especially in the water. i admit, i race people running in my hood but they don't know it (insert evil laugh here). i chase em' down, pass them and then make believe they are chasing me down. i never look back to see if they are trying to keep up. i race people on my bike too like the guy with the motor on his bike (see last post) and sometimes the guy in the lane next to me at the pool with an inch of fur on his back. i'll save that inch of fur story for another post.


7) If you're over 50 then you should get your ass into the gym and work hard in there at getting stronger. Learn what it means to push yourself in there safely. even though i'm not 50, i get my ass into the gym and have been doing so religiously since i was 19.

8) Use every tool you know of to make training more enjoyable - music, video's, other people, nice locations, whatever works. check mark on this one. i use music a lot and it does make the training time more enjoyable. i change up my running routes often, and always keep my workouts fresh and not do the same routine day in and day out.


9) Minimize commute time to work and to working out. Most of us use our cars like a portable locker room - have everything you need in the car to work out. Have good food in the car too. i have breakfast, lunch and sometimes dinner with me at all times no matter what. even though most of my training happens in the morning, and the commute doesn't get in the way of my training, i usually have a workout bag in my car with a swimsuit, running shoes, and workout clothing just in case the opportunity presents itself. i'm always ready.


10) Spend less time reading, talking, blogging about training and more time actually doing it. This sport is about the work. of course this tip was my favorite! i can certainly attest that i am spending less time blogging and reading and more time actually doing the training.
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for all of you who leave comments about the tunes i have posted on the music player, i just started making a new playlist and changed it a few days ago, so now there is some fresh stuff to listen to. hope you enjoy it as much as i do.

is it just me or is blogger acting crazy lately? i just tried to do the spell check and i'm clicking on it and clicking on it and nothing. if you see any typos don't hold it against me.

much love and peace out ...i have a date on the bike trainer now and maybe i can catch up on some blogs on the itouch. talk about multi-tasking!