This was the first triathlon of the season for me and the first ever for my sister Jackie! We signed up way back in December and it was a great first race! We swam in the Barnegat Bay and the water felt pretty chilly even with a wetsuit but as soon as the race started, your body warmed up. I had a decent swim, although since it was the first "race swim" I was a little panicked initially - and couldn't get into the bilateral breathing pattern I'd been used to doing in all of my pool swims and had to go back to just breathing on the right side every 2 strokes. Finished the swim in 8:20 for a .33 mile swim. T1 was 1:48 which was decent considering I had to get the wetsuit off. Felt great on the bike finishing 12 miles in 31:38 for an average of 19mph. T2 off the bike was 48 seconds! The run wasn't my strong suit that day and finished the 3.1 miles in 28:20 for an average of 9:18 min/mile. I ended up finishing the race 11th overall and 4th in the 30-34 age group.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Jersey Short Multisport's Women's Kick-Off Triathlon 5/15/10
Sunday, May 2, 2010
2010 Broad Street Run
This year, I ran the Broad Street Run with my dad and sister Jaime. It was a hot day for a race and it was one week following the 1/2 Marathon in Nashville but I had signed up for it anyway hoping for a nice day for a stroll down Broad Street. Unfortunately it ended up being the hottest day of the year up to that point - it was 90 degrees as soon as the sun came out. I had ridden my bike from our apartment on North Broad Street down to the stadium - a little over 5 miles and met Jam and Dad in the parking lot. Put my bike in the trunk of my dad's car and we took the subway to the race start. We got there so early, but by the time I got through the porta-john line and the line to put our bag into the bag check it was time to go. Somehow the way they did the wave start with 5 minutes between groups of runners so by the time we started another 1/2 hour had gone by and the heat just kept building. From the start the race was kinda tough for me - my legs just didn't want to move. I kept up with Jam and Dad for the first 5.5 miles then had to back off and do some walking through the water stops to stay hydrated. I saw a lot of runners down on the sides of the road getting medical attention because they weren't smart. When I saw that, I decided that I did not want to end up sick and just took my time finishing safely. I finished in 1:44, a 10:25 min/mile pace which was slower that I had anticipated but given the conditions and the tired legs, I was okay with it. Dad and Jam did awesome and finished around 1:38!!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Country Music 1/2 Marathon - Nashville, TN
This was a great race!!! I ended up going with a friend of a friend, Christie. We were roomates for the trip. I flew to Nashville around 2pm on Friday, the day before the race and just made it to the Race Expo in time to pick up my packet and my number!! We stayed at the Maxwell House Hotel outside of downtown. They really catered to the runners, having a great pasta dinner the night before the race and a shuttle to take us to the race start bright and early! We woke up at 4:00am to catch and early shuttle to the race start. Had a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast and my pre-race drink on the way to the race. We were at the start pretty early and there was a little rain shower beforehand. The race ended up starting early because they were calling for some major thunderstorms to hit later in the morning that day. We got the race started without incident. The course was much hillier than I had expected!! Up and Down, Up and Down, Up and Up and Down . . . neverending! I wasn't really prepared for the hills but tried to battle through the best I could. Finished the race in 2:16 - about a 10:20 min/mile pace.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
The Path to Homeownership
Bryant and I are in the process of purchasing our first home together. So far we've been lucky in the process in finding the perfect place for both of us - older home, historic, needs some work (what Bryant loves to do) and is in a great neighborhood here in Philadelphia. We are set to close on May 14th! I'm hoping all goes well from here on out!!
Time to start getting excited!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Skiing!!
(L) Glenwood Springs Hot Springs Pool! Best place to relax at night after skiing!
I had my first ever skiing experience in Colorado at Sunlight Mountain. We went up to Glenwood Springs for 3 nights and went skiing 2 of the days. Once I got myself a pair of ski boots and borrowed skis, goggles and helmet we headed to the mountain. Since Bryant doesn't have the patience for teaching me to ski, we purchased a group lesson which ended up being a private lesson. I had an amazing teacher and I caught on fairly quickly on how to shift my body weight for turns, how to stop and most importantly how to stay upright! I had a great time - but even on the green hills I had my fair share of wipeouts! Good thing Bry was there to 'rescue' me a few times! Even though my first day was rough, I felt pretty good overall. So much so that we bought tickets for a second day the following day and ended up going back! I did even better on Day 2 with the exception of Bryant taking me on one of the 'blue' trails by mistake. I ended up sliding down half of a steep hill on my bottom and running down the rest of the way!! Overall it was an amazing time and I couldn't have been happier and luckier to have the husband I have!!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Frozen Foot 5K
Well, this was my first race back after doing the Marine Corps Marathon back in October. I took the rest of the fall/winter to hone in on my strength training and interval running and cycling workouts. I ran this race on the campus of Colorado University's Boulder campus in Boulder, CO. Bryant and I were in Colorado for a winter vacation to include some time at my favorite place - the hot springs at Glenwood Springs and my first skiing experience at Sunlight Mountain!
