Foul Heedless Crew...

Sunday was the GW Birthday Marathon – Relay! It was a perfect day for a relay run, too. But back up to Saturday, first...

Saturday morning I got up early, as usual, because I had a 3 hour spin to get done! The spin was broken up in to about 10 sections though, so that made it (the time that is) go by as I was constantly having to pay attention to my cadence and heart rate. I find if I let my mind wander so will my cadence or heart rate! Once I finished I had a quick snack and cleaned up so I could get over to my son’s Regional Indoor Track Meet. His team (who won the Patriot District two weeks before) was in contention to win the Northern Region! We dropped Patrick off at Noon then had some lunch at Noodles and Company. Mmmmm.

Back to the track meet venue – George Mason University Field House. There were probably kids from about 30-ish schools represented (4 districts with 7-8 schools each). We arrived in time to watch the hurdle finals. And sadly a young woman hurdler caught her foot and hit the ground hard and had to be taken away by ambulance. That sort of put a damper on things. Bummer. Hopefully she is ok. We finally got a place to sit down near the finish line – which is always an exciting place to be! My son’s event finally came up and he had a great race and a PR by taking 2.5 seconds off his time in the 1000. His team ended up in second place after leading most of the meet. It was very exciting stuff! On to Spring Track season! (Though tonight is the team dinner and some kids are headed to States this weekend!)

OK, now on to Sunday morning and the ‘debut’ of team Foul Heedless Crew! The team name was derived as an anagram of the last names of the relay team members: Shuford Welc Leese. Now, I am not smart enough to come up with this on my own and used a free anagram generator I found online!

The race has a leisurely start time of 10:30 AM so we picked up Carol at about 8:00 and headed up to Greenbelt. We arrived in time to stop at Safeway for some snacks. The race director was a little nutty – and going in about 20 directions at once it seemed. But we got checked in and picked up our nice race shirts, bibs, and relay sash. I think as a relay participant we only paid about $16 each to enter and got a really nice shirt out of it! We hung out in the car for a bit before walking Carol over to the start area. After the low key start, Jeff and I headed back to the car so we could drive to the relay exchange point on the course...and the course, which was a lollipop style, had about a 2 mile out before making three loops then heading back. It was a pretty nice set up for relay folks!

Once we arrived at the exchange site (after a little challenge getting there) I only had about an hour to wait before Carol came through. We got to cheer on Caroline and Fabrice from Team Z, too! My goal for the 7.3 miles of my leg was 1:15...and I am happy to say I nailed it in 1:14:56! LOL I was pretty happy with that after not really running since 1/2/11. (I have been doing training on the elliptical though, to keep my foot happy, in addition to the spinning.) I handed off to Jeff then waited for Carol the studette who after handing off to me after 9.7 miles did the 7.3 mile loop for extra mileage in preparation for the Shamrock Marathon next month! Alas, I will have to wait till 2012 to tackle that full course. Carol was pretty much right behind me then she and I drove back to the start area for some refreshments then walked down to the finish area to wait for Jeff. We did not have to wait long! We walked back so Jeff could have his refreshments then chatted with our Z mates. Overall we were 39th out of 55 relays. It was a LOT of fun and I’d definitely do this relay again. Maybe even the entire marathon! It is so easy to get to and well run. And this was the 50th anniversary of the event – the 5th longest running marathon in the nation!

Today as well as yesterday I am pretty sore. Last night I managed to do my elliptical workout and finally got my first weight training session in. Yay!

Happy and Healthy Training!

Wailing over the Whale...

In case you have not notice the changes to my 2011 Race Calendar, I've withdrawn from the Shamrock Marathon. This means that the Shamrock Whale Challenge is out for me. Boo. My foot is just being super stubborn and I'm basically not running. I've started doing a bit of elliptical work to keep the fitness up though. I've got the biking and swimming down, and will be adding strength training to the mix and a little cross training, too. We will see... So I will go down to the Shamrock weekend and do the 8K. But I have deferred the Marathon till 2012. I was hoping to use Shamrock Whale as a way to gauge racing two days in a row - especially the marathon part. :) This was to give me an idea for the Goofy Challenge for 2012. Oh well, I will still look to signing up for Goofy in 2012 once I know my foot is happy again and will of course take precautions to keep it that way!!

For something different I did sign up for the Jim McDonnell Lake Swims. Yes, swims. I'm going to be brave and race both the 1 mile and the 2 mile. Without a wetsuit! Every time I've done the swim (the 2 mile) I've done it without the wetsuit and survived. I know at least one other person doing both distances. In fact, she is who inspired me to try both - as she always does both. I have not done this event in 7 years. Might as well come back full speed ahead. Or something like that...

Don't forget to check out my donation page for St. Jude Heroes! I'll be racing to raise much needed funds for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital! St. Jude is pretty amazing. But not nearly as much as they kids they support.

Happy and Healthy Training.

Gina Tris...

Gina Tris for St. Jude!

I have decided to participate in my next endurance event - Ironman Arizona on November 20, 2011 - as a St. Jude Hero. I have been a St. Jude Partner in Hope for a few years now after I signed up through a radio telethon, but I wanted to do more. My fundraising efforts will directly support the work of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to find cures and save the lives of children fighting cancer and other deadly diseases, and I am asking for your help!

Please consider donating for a wonderful cause. Please click here for more information or to make a donation.

Thank you!