Up & Running Again

So today we volunteered for Up & Running Again's last long group run before the OC Half Marathon! Today's run was 11 miles. There were some younger kids participating, and for many of the runners, this was their longest run EVER!

We set up cups of water & Gatorade at mile 8, and I set up my phone to take photo/video. Here's one of the first runners approaching...

Throughout the morning, we poured water, gave encouragement and directions for a tricky spot on the course:

We shared our water with, um, anyone who passed by...

The runners were so thankful for us being there!

Many of them took fluids...

"Gatorade? YES!!!"

...and some of them had their own water, waving as they ran by...

"We're good, thanks!"

One of the best things about group runs is that sometimes you find someone who runs about your same speed. We saw this many times today, groups of two...

...groups of 3 or 4...

They're tired, but they're still going!

...and there were a few solo runners as well! James is a massage therapist for the group, and Sharlyn is a volunteer who has done a half marathon with the group in the past:

James (left) & Sharlyn (right)

The two last ladies - we'll call them the heroes of the day - were Varsha and Ashley. These two took over 3 hours to complete the 11 miles. I don't know about you, but if it took me 3 hours to run 11 miles, I wouldn't want to do it. Way to go, ladies!

Varsha (above) & Ashley (below)

Here they are coming into the finish! Look at those smiles - DONE!

Varsha (above) & Ashley (below)

It was so awesome to see the support between the runners...

...and we were glad to be a small part of this experience!

We had wanted to volunteer more with this group, but the OC Half is next week, and we'll be at Wildflower... Best of luck to everyone running - you'll be in our thoughts & prayers!

If you'd like to donate to Up & Running again, please click on the picture link at the top of my blog (or click here), scroll down and look for my picture. Thanks!

P.S. When I got home today, I did a 3hr ride, then washed my bike!

Got some practice taking my back wheel off and putting it back on -
in case I get a rear flat at Wildflower...

Training for Wildflower

Wildflower is coming up in 2 weeks! Training this week has been tough... Many challenges. I have a lot to say about it, so I thought I'd share stories here. The week started off even before Saturday's training with a long week of rehearsal for a play at my church. Friday was opening night. My setup included leaning over many percussion instruments, and lifting my right leg to kick the box I'm sitting on (an instrument called a cajon) throughout the 3hr performance:

After leaving church at 10:30pm, I got up at 6am the next morning (Saturday) to do a 43mi bike / 6mi run (links go to Garmin Connect). Lots of hills. I thought I rode slow, but actually I rode just as fast as my Wildflower race time from 2006! My run was great - 4 seconds per mile faster than the last time I ran the route that includes a crazy hilly trail thru Peters Canyon (East Ridge Trail, if you know it).

Forgot to put my visor on - oops!

Sunday I had a great run, 11.2mi at an 8:38 pace. Needless to say, I wore my SLS3 socks for the show that night:

By the time I went to work on Monday, I was already tired. My swim that afternoon was actually awesome, despite the mentally draining day I (and many others) had. I managed to pull off negative splits (3x300 at 6:46, 6:43, and 6:38). If you're a swimmer, you know that's slow, but hey it wasn't bad for me!

Tuesday morning, I got up early and rode my bike to work. This was my outfit, a tribute to the sad events of Monday in Boston:

I rode home then ran, and felt surprisingly good. I saved a lot of energy on the bike so that I could feel good on the run, and it paid off!

By Wednesday, I was exhausted. I could've fallen asleep in my own afternoon Music Therapy session. And the activities were highly energetic! But I swam my 50m intervals anyway, and was blessed with the strength to finish the last two under 60sec.

Now we come to Thursday. The most challenging day so far. I was so tired at the beginning of the day that all I wanted to do was stay in bed until lunch time. But I went to work. Then I came home and took a short nap.

I was tired, but my desire to be an Ironman overcame my desire to sleep. My intention was to go run at the Foothill High School track, which I knew had construction in the area. Well, this time the construction had progressed to the point of there being NO track:

No running for me here tonight!

So then it was on to Beckman High School track. Usually they have games going on, like Football or Lacrosse. Hopping over (well, running around) some high schoolers' bags in lanes 1-2 is inevitable, but you can still run on the track. However, perhaps I should have checked online to see if this was happening:

Kinda hard to run on the track during a track meet. The University coach said they'd probably yell at me for running in lane 9 around the edge, even though only lanes 1-2 were being used for the 2mi race. Boo. So then I started driving, saw the trail just down the street on the way home, and figured I'd just run there. I was so lost at this moment, without a plan, but in a second I gained clarity: the trail has dirt! Just like Foothill, my original plan! So I went to 24hr Fitness

(probably looked like a crazy person running in to use the bathroom then running out again, but oh well!) and ran from there. I was tempted to cut the run short, as I was already running about an hour later than planned, and all I wanted to do was come home and relax, but I pushed through that and ran my whole workout. There are people in much tougher situations than me today, and I just need to remember that. Take this video from the OC Rescue Mission. Marisa is a runner with Up & Running Again. She is an awesome young lady, who one day hopes to complete an triathlon!

Today (Friday) is a rest day, then I'll be back at it with a long hilly bike/run (at Peters Canyon) on Saturday and a long hilly run (again at Peters - the East Ridge Trail is my new "favorite" run location!) on Sunday. 

Despite the challenges, I'm so thankful to be able to push myself like this. I want to remember that throughout this whole journey - just be thankful!

Team SLS3

So you may notice the SLS3 banner on the top of my blog. My husband Greg and I love their compression socks, and we swear by them for long runs and recovery from hard workouts. Greg heard that they were forming a team for 2013, so we applied and were accepted! I feel like a pro triathlete! These pictures are from the first time I tested out my race gear on a training ride/run:

2/21/13 brick workout

The tri suits had arrived in the mail just in time for our first triathlon of the season, the Desert International Triathlon (3/4/13), so we got to represent the team in our full gear:

Both of us got a PR (Personal Record) at this race, improving our times from last year! I ended up placing 5th in my age division out of 28 women. Here's the breakdown:

SWIM:
My time was 30 seconds faster than last year!

Challenges:

-I didn't feel like I had trained that much in the pool.
-There are always people who pass me.
Blessings:
-There was cloud cover, so swimming into the sunrise, we could actually see where we were going!
-I only paused twice to get my bearings (usually I'm much less confident of where I'm going in the water).

BIKE
1.6mph faster than last year, and 2nd fastest bike split in my age group (22mph)!
Challenges:
-I haven't had my tri bike long enough to really push myself the way I want to in training.
Blessings:
-I had my fastest T1 (transition) time ever! Not having to put on socks helps so much...
-It wasn't windy on the course. Wind = danger.
-I felt amazing on the bike, past tons of people, and avoided a crash!

RUN
*ahem* MUCH faster than last year...
Challenges:
-Um, rough terrain. I had an embarrassing incident last year, tripping and falling at mile 2 of the run. This year, I watched my step more closely!
Blessings:
-The cloud cover was still out, so it was relatively cool on the run! I don't do well in heat.
-I maintained a 7:37 average for 6 miles!

Coming in to the finish...

I am so grateful for how everything went on race day. The run was the toughest part, which is usually the case in a triathlon, but whenever I felt the urge to slow down, my mind kept going back to Up & Running Again. Why I'm doing these triathlons. The people I'm racing to support. And so I pushed harder.

Thank you Team SLS3 for including me on your team for 2013. I look forward to many more great races this season!