Four races in five weeks
On May 4th, this year's Wildflower Triathlon became my fourth race in five weeks. It was way too much! Actually, it probably wasn't just the races--in the same 5 week period, I also:
Lavaman was my first race of the period. By the day of the race, I wasn't actually in the mood for racing. I certainly didn't try to push it, even when some of the guys on the team passed me with a quarter mile left in the run. I think I was much more focused on how my mentees were doing, being done with the race and mentoring, and on having a generally fun time in Hawaii. But, I did still manage to greatly improve my run from last year and beat my time by 4 minutes from last year, which was enough to get me in just under the 3 hour mark, so I was happy about that. I was pretty upset that my swim time was 2 minutes slower than last year because I've been focusing a lot on my swim and getting lots of private lessons. But, they did change the course and it was slower for everyone, but I still think I should have been at least 5 minutes faster.
The next weekend I finally got to do workouts of my own choosing and did a Del Dios Ride on Saturday, followed by Tim and Allison helping me move the last pieces of furniture to my house. Sunday I did a 10 mile run. It felt great to have a much more unstructured weekend than I'd had in months!
Then my run of 3 race weekends started with the Camp Pendleton Devil Dog Duathlon. My goals for this were to have a better run than last year and to beat my friend Jen on at least one of the 5K runs. I was successful in keeping up with Jen for the first 2.5K of the first run, but just couldn't beat her on either one. Both of my 5Ks were faster than my fastest time last year even though I did the relay last year and only had to run. I had a lot of fun, but didn't medal this year. :(
The next day I made my biggest mistake of the season. I was still focused on getting my training in for La Jolla Half, so I decided to go out with Pat, Jess, and Erin for a run through Penasquitos Canyon. We did the run faster than my usual base building pace and I was hurting a little from my hard 10K the day before. About 9 miles into the run, I started planning out my race schedule and how the week before La Jolla Half, I'd just do an easy 8 mile run. All the sudden I realized that this IS the weekend before La Jolla Half and I'm running 18 miles this weekend! :(
I tried to then take it easy and rest for the half, but I wanted to stay loose, so I ran with Emily for 3.5 miles on Wednesday. That still hurt more than it should have and I probably shouldn't have done it.
Then that weekend, I had the La Jolla Half. I decided I needed to rest up for Wildflower, so I wasn't going for a PR on this course. This happened to be the same weekend as one of our early heat waves, so it was absolutely ROASTING out there and I also didn't want to overextert myself in that heat! My only goal on this course was to finish under the time limit so it would count toward the triple crown of local half marathons. Of course, once the race started and I got in a good rhythm, I thought maybe I could at least get a decent time, so I pushed it a bit until I got a mile past the run up Torrey. By this point, my legs were really hurting and I really wanted to stop and walk, but I happened across Homa and didn't want to show weakness by walking around him, so I kept going. We caught up to Amanda and ran with her for a little while. Then we caught up with Allison who was still hurting from a back injury and once we got up to her, I stopped and walked with her for a while. For the rest of the race, I ran, walked, stopped at aid stations, and stopped to chat with people with Allison. I'm really glad I came across her because she got me to slow down to what I should have been doing the whole time to stay ready for Wildflower. With 3/4 of a mile left, Homa and Allison told me to go ahead, so I started running and finished the last section really fast.
Now in the final week before Wildflower, I spent several hours every day organizing everything for the RV and the campsite, making sure everything was covered and that everyone and everything had a way there and back. On Tuesday of that week, my sister showed up several days early to move to San Diego from Nebraska. There's a long story to it, but in the interest of keeping this entry relatively short, my sister then drove back the following morning after spending only 14 hours in San Diego. So, the day where I should have been packing for the trip, I spent dealing with that situation and it caused a bunch more stress.
Finally Wednesday I picked up the RV and Thursday we left for the trip. On the way there, I was in an accident in a parking lot and then had to drive through the grapevine which was a really scary drive for my first time in an RV. Once we got to the campsite, I tried to make sure everyone got organized and we had enough space for everyone. Saturday I took lots of pictures and videos of the long course (and later of the streakers)
Once again for the race, I wasn't really in the race mood. I just wanted to be finished so I could relax and enjoy the rest of the weekend. My swim this time was almost exactly the same time as last year, though I did swim further off course and had to stop once to adjust my goggles, so I'm guessing I did actually swim a little faster. My bike was faster than last year, but that's no surprised since I totally took it easy on the bike last year to save myself for the run. I still could have pushed harder on the bike though. I ended up walking a lot on the run, including most of the way up the big hill because I was flirting with a girl, but I still finished the run and the race faster than last year. I think part of the reason for that is that there was no naked aid station to distract me (BOOOO Tri-California!!). And just like at La Jolla, I had lots of energy left over at the end--enough to sprint the finish, which is a sign that I left WAY too much on the course.
After lounging around for a LONG time by the transition area, we headed back to the campsite and on the walk we saw most of our long course people in their cars on the way home again. When we got to the campsite, it was pretty empty and it was disappointing that we didn't get to talk to them, tell our stories of what happened and hear their stories of what they saw us do. Oh well--guess next year I'll have to do the long course just to be a part of the full experience.
The drive back home was uneventful. I was much more confident driving the RV so we were able to drive the speed limit most of the time. We got home a little later than we needed to, quickly unloaded the RV, then went to a Cinco de Mayo party at Ann's house.
Then, I finally got to kick back, take a few weeks off of everything and recover. I was so fried I didn't even feel like blogging. I was worried that I was done with Triathlons, but now after a few weeks off and starting to mentor for the Nation's Tri team, I'm ready to go again. If I get inspired, I may even edit this post later and add some pictures. :)
- Moved to a new house in the single weekend that I wasn't racing
- Dealt with family drama of my sister moving out to California and then deciding to go back
- Organized the RV trip to Wildflower, drove the RV to Wildflower, and got in an accident on the way
- Dealt with relationship drama
Lavaman was my first race of the period. By the day of the race, I wasn't actually in the mood for racing. I certainly didn't try to push it, even when some of the guys on the team passed me with a quarter mile left in the run. I think I was much more focused on how my mentees were doing, being done with the race and mentoring, and on having a generally fun time in Hawaii. But, I did still manage to greatly improve my run from last year and beat my time by 4 minutes from last year, which was enough to get me in just under the 3 hour mark, so I was happy about that. I was pretty upset that my swim time was 2 minutes slower than last year because I've been focusing a lot on my swim and getting lots of private lessons. But, they did change the course and it was slower for everyone, but I still think I should have been at least 5 minutes faster.
The next weekend I finally got to do workouts of my own choosing and did a Del Dios Ride on Saturday, followed by Tim and Allison helping me move the last pieces of furniture to my house. Sunday I did a 10 mile run. It felt great to have a much more unstructured weekend than I'd had in months!
Then my run of 3 race weekends started with the Camp Pendleton Devil Dog Duathlon. My goals for this were to have a better run than last year and to beat my friend Jen on at least one of the 5K runs. I was successful in keeping up with Jen for the first 2.5K of the first run, but just couldn't beat her on either one. Both of my 5Ks were faster than my fastest time last year even though I did the relay last year and only had to run. I had a lot of fun, but didn't medal this year. :(
The next day I made my biggest mistake of the season. I was still focused on getting my training in for La Jolla Half, so I decided to go out with Pat, Jess, and Erin for a run through Penasquitos Canyon. We did the run faster than my usual base building pace and I was hurting a little from my hard 10K the day before. About 9 miles into the run, I started planning out my race schedule and how the week before La Jolla Half, I'd just do an easy 8 mile run. All the sudden I realized that this IS the weekend before La Jolla Half and I'm running 18 miles this weekend! :(
I tried to then take it easy and rest for the half, but I wanted to stay loose, so I ran with Emily for 3.5 miles on Wednesday. That still hurt more than it should have and I probably shouldn't have done it.
Then that weekend, I had the La Jolla Half. I decided I needed to rest up for Wildflower, so I wasn't going for a PR on this course. This happened to be the same weekend as one of our early heat waves, so it was absolutely ROASTING out there and I also didn't want to overextert myself in that heat! My only goal on this course was to finish under the time limit so it would count toward the triple crown of local half marathons. Of course, once the race started and I got in a good rhythm, I thought maybe I could at least get a decent time, so I pushed it a bit until I got a mile past the run up Torrey. By this point, my legs were really hurting and I really wanted to stop and walk, but I happened across Homa and didn't want to show weakness by walking around him, so I kept going. We caught up to Amanda and ran with her for a little while. Then we caught up with Allison who was still hurting from a back injury and once we got up to her, I stopped and walked with her for a while. For the rest of the race, I ran, walked, stopped at aid stations, and stopped to chat with people with Allison. I'm really glad I came across her because she got me to slow down to what I should have been doing the whole time to stay ready for Wildflower. With 3/4 of a mile left, Homa and Allison told me to go ahead, so I started running and finished the last section really fast.
Now in the final week before Wildflower, I spent several hours every day organizing everything for the RV and the campsite, making sure everything was covered and that everyone and everything had a way there and back. On Tuesday of that week, my sister showed up several days early to move to San Diego from Nebraska. There's a long story to it, but in the interest of keeping this entry relatively short, my sister then drove back the following morning after spending only 14 hours in San Diego. So, the day where I should have been packing for the trip, I spent dealing with that situation and it caused a bunch more stress.
Finally Wednesday I picked up the RV and Thursday we left for the trip. On the way there, I was in an accident in a parking lot and then had to drive through the grapevine which was a really scary drive for my first time in an RV. Once we got to the campsite, I tried to make sure everyone got organized and we had enough space for everyone. Saturday I took lots of pictures and videos of the long course (and later of the streakers)
Once again for the race, I wasn't really in the race mood. I just wanted to be finished so I could relax and enjoy the rest of the weekend. My swim this time was almost exactly the same time as last year, though I did swim further off course and had to stop once to adjust my goggles, so I'm guessing I did actually swim a little faster. My bike was faster than last year, but that's no surprised since I totally took it easy on the bike last year to save myself for the run. I still could have pushed harder on the bike though. I ended up walking a lot on the run, including most of the way up the big hill because I was flirting with a girl, but I still finished the run and the race faster than last year. I think part of the reason for that is that there was no naked aid station to distract me (BOOOO Tri-California!!). And just like at La Jolla, I had lots of energy left over at the end--enough to sprint the finish, which is a sign that I left WAY too much on the course.
After lounging around for a LONG time by the transition area, we headed back to the campsite and on the walk we saw most of our long course people in their cars on the way home again. When we got to the campsite, it was pretty empty and it was disappointing that we didn't get to talk to them, tell our stories of what happened and hear their stories of what they saw us do. Oh well--guess next year I'll have to do the long course just to be a part of the full experience.
The drive back home was uneventful. I was much more confident driving the RV so we were able to drive the speed limit most of the time. We got home a little later than we needed to, quickly unloaded the RV, then went to a Cinco de Mayo party at Ann's house.
Then, I finally got to kick back, take a few weeks off of everything and recover. I was so fried I didn't even feel like blogging. I was worried that I was done with Triathlons, but now after a few weeks off and starting to mentor for the Nation's Tri team, I'm ready to go again. If I get inspired, I may even edit this post later and add some pictures. :)
