2024 Wrap-Up!

Gina’s 2024 - it was a pretty good year!

January 1-31 Backyard BRRR
1/28 Bishops Burke Lake 5k
2/11 Bishops Lovers 5k
2/18 Bishops National Battlefield 5k
3/3 Spring Backyard Burn Wakefield Park 5 mile
3/9 Piston Marathon
3/31 Bishops Easter Scramble 5k
4/14 Spring Backyard Burn Lake Fairfax 5 mile
4/27 Canaan Valley 10k
4/28 Mt. Summit Challenge 1^st AG
5/11 Kinetic Sprint
6/30 Bishops Claude Moore 5k
7/4 kick AST tri
8/11 Bishops Summer Sprint 5k 1^st AG
8/25 Annapolis 10
9/1 Donut Dash 5k
10/5 Pleasants Landing Sprint 1^st AG
10/13 Army 10 Miler
11/10 Veterans Day 5k 3^rd AG
11/28 Turkey Day 5k
11/30 Bishops Ugly Sweater Dash 5k 2^nd AG
12/7 McLean Rotary 5k
12/8 Run with Santa 5k
12/22 Frosty 5k

Race Report: 70.3 North Carolina

70.3 North Carolina Race Report

Before I get to the race report, I need to give a little background…

Background:

My last successful ‘big’ race was 2018 Eagleman 70.3. After Eagleman I completed a half distance aquabike in July – Rev3 Williamsburg. And by big, I guess mean Ironman related. But I did successfully complete a smaller 70.3 distance race in May 2019 – the Kinetic Half.

I had signed up for IM Louisville 2018 and trained well for it. A few of my friends were also in for this race and two other friends were coming to Sherpa and cheer. It was going to be great!

Race day: the weather was cool and rainy. We had a shortened swim due to current. It was FAST! For the bike, apparently lots of debris had washed on to the road. I was one of the casualties! I had flatted, and more than once. The first time on my tubular and I used a can of ‘fix it flat’ to continue. I made it to Personal Needs but flatted again shortly after. Then tech support came to my rescue! I used a loaner wheel to finish, but this also flatted twice due to the debris. I lost a lot of time, but tech support got me a new tube and tire twice – it flatted when he inflated it the first time – and I finished the bike under my own power. How much time I lost though I was not sure as I did not know the time of day I’d started the swim and then the bike so did not know how much time I had left to do the run. The rolling starts versus the mass start make this part of Ironman difficult! In addition, the shortened swim meant the swim cutoff was different but that was not clear for knowing total time allowed and time to bike, etc. Anyway, I was reasonably certain I did not have enough time to complete the run so did not start it. I lugged my gear to the hotel, cleaned up, ate, then went to cheer on my friends! Turns out, by the time I did finish the bike, I was over the allotted time to complete it!

For 2019 I opted to go back to Louisville and try my hand at that race again! At the end of 2018 I had signed up for the TriDot PreseasonProject and was excited to use this technology to my advantage. I had also switched wheels on my bike and was ready for the 2019 season!

So as noted above, I successfully completed a 70.3 local race – the Kinetic Half – and on my new wheels. Headed into IMLou confident and ready. The swim was cancelled due to toxic algae but this time I knew the cutoffs and the time of day I started! Race day began with a time trial bike start based on race number. As I started I noted that the corner of my left eye seemed blurry. Bottom line, the blurriness continued until both eyes were blurry. Like they had some kind of film over them. When I arrived at personal needs I went to medical to see if they had eye drops. They did not but flushed them with saline and gave me a tube for later if needed. The saline did not really help. Anyway, I completed the bike in time but it was really hard to see – it was if I was looking through my glasses that had a thin layer of Vaseline on them…or something! I started the run and heard someone call my name. It was Elizabeth James! She snapped this picture of me but until I got right up to her I could not tell it was her. 

I got through the first loop but on the second loop as the sun went down I was struggling to navigate and even briefly went off course. I was also having some issue where I felt like I had to pee. Constantly. Just before the start of the third loop I made the decision to not continue. Between my vision and all the potty stops I figured I’d go off course again and did not think at this time I had enough time to complete. But seriously, the vision thing was weird – and a little scary. In looking back at my 2018 notes, I apparently had a ‘blurry eye’ thing with one eye then, too. But it was not as bad. I figured it was all a sign for me not to continue!

Enter 2020…I was signed up for 70.3 Blue Ridge. Of course we all know that Covid happened. The race was postponed to 2021 and I was actually happy to have lots of extra time to train for the 5 mile climb. Woo hoo!

Training for the race went well. We had come out a few weeks prior to drive the course, ride the first 10 miles of it, and then ride the climb so we knew what was in store for us on race day. I had been really nervous about such a long climb so the recon trip was great.

Race day: The swim was beautiful in the reservoir. Water temp was perfect and I did not wear a wetsuit. The water was just lovely. I was ready to get going on the bike. Things were going well and I was happy to make it to the top of the climb in one piece with no problems. Once you get to the top of that climb you enter the Blue Ridge Parkway and climb some more before you start a nice decent. It was here that I noticed something was wrong. Something felt…weird. I managed to slow down and pull over and stop to find that I of course had a flat on my rear tire. I was in the process of replacing the tube when tech support drove by and offered a hand. No sooner had I started when it flatted again. He was (still) there to assist. He drove off and then I started and of course…flatted again! A sag van came by and I figured my day was over. He loaded up my bike and continued back up the hill I’d just come down. I jokingly said to the driver, “well if we pass tech support that has extra wheels maybe they could swap it out and I could finish.” And that actually happened. So once I got the loaner wheel on he drove me back down to where he picked me up and I finished the bike. This time I knew what time of day I started and knew what time it was when I finished. And that’s when I realized that I would need to run a huge half marathon PR to complete the course in the 8.5 hours!! So I ran one loop of the course instead and then pulled out to DNF. I know I could have finished before the course closed but it would have been a DNF. I found out after I was done I lost about an hour and 20 minutes. As soon as the race opened for 2022 I signed up again!

A couple of weeks later I received an email from Ironman saying there were slots for 70.3 North Carolina which was four months later. I figured out, what the heck, I’ve got all this fitness, might as well give it a short. I took my old tubular wheels in for an inspection and needed a new tire on the front (the rear had been replaced after 2018 IMLou) ,and also upgraded my cassette and chain and derailleur (in preparation for Blue Ridge 70.3 2022). I know NC was considered ‘flat’, but I wanted my bike to also be ready for next year! I also had some sealant placed in the tires to hopefully keep my tires from flatting if I rolled over something small. Then I went on to successfully raced three aquabike races (2 Oly, 1 Sprint) on my tubulars as well. Side note: while my tri bike was getting the upgrades I raced a weekend of aquabikes: Oly and Sprint on my road bike, and those both went well. Would you believe that the week after that on an outdoor training ride on my road bike I had a flat? And it was on my rear tire!!!

Back to 2021 and the 70.3 NC….

Race day: I was so nervous leading up to it and worried about my tires. And my eyes – hoping they would not wig out on me. We had overall perfect weather in my book.

For the swim: The air temperature was 59 and the water temperature was about 71, current assisted, but not like IMLou 2018! I lined up at my normal time (about 40 minutes) and had decided to wear my wetsuit. We had done a practice swim the day before and the Swim Coordinator was there to give us pointers. Very helpful! The swim went well – no problems sighting or getting out of the water and it was a huge PR. Yeah!

For the bike: Started the bike and it was cool - still 59, overcast, and foggy. I was a little nervous about the bridge crossings, but followed the pre-race instructions and all went well. But I will say, each time as I rolled over the metal grate of the draw bridges (there were two and we crossed one of them twice), I prayed my tires did not flat!!! The sun did come out and the fog cleared up to a beautiful day. I basically prayed for happy tires and getting to T2 with no mishaps. Thankfully, that is just what happened! I thought I did a good job of following my power plan but did take things easier in the last several miles. And I took it especially easy on the final draw bridge crossing back to T2. And I made it! I also followed my nutrition and hydration plan successfully.

For the run: I did not plan to try to follow the TriDot RaceX pacing. It was warming up - 69 at the start and sunny - and I don’t do well in heat. I just wanted to finish, be consistent, have a good run, and have fun. I believe I succeeded! My run started off strong, but wavered a bit in the last part of the first half. I had been carrying and using ice (sucking on the ice chips and putting them down my jersey) from aid stop to aid stop but did not get any at one point (there were 6 aid stations that you hit twice – I think I missed the ice at 4 or 5) and I started to feel a bit nauseous at one point. But I got back on the ice track and things improved. Nutrition and hydration was otherwise followed. There was a woman who was killing it out there and when she passed me in the last few miles she really inspired me! I was able to dig in and finish stronger than I had started and was so happy! Happy to actually have successfully finished a big A race. Again. I may have cried happy tears!

Just a word about TriDot. For the race I followed my bike power plan and was even a little under the plan overall (110 target power v 105 actual power). Based on the projections, I still finished the bike portion almost 27 minutes faster than predicted! This is huge and I'm super excited to work on my bike strength over the off season (or preseason)! Overall, I finished the race 23 minutes slower than predicted even though my run was a little over 39 minutes slower than predicted. I am looking forward to working on my run as well! My transitions can use some work but the 10 minute faster projected swim did not hurt!

If you are looking for personalized and optimized training with less time and fewer injuries, you should definitely check out TriDot!

#IAmTriDot
#TriDotAmbassador

 

Ironman Lou...

...round two!

Hoping for a flat-free day in 2019!

Making a difference...

...at least I hope I can.

I recently found out an old high school friend of mine (Debbie) was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS  or Lou Gehrig's disease) about 2 months or so ago. I did not  (and still don't) know a lot about ALS, but I know one definite thing about it. I am not even sure I can type the words here. So, it hit me kind of hard.

Debbie and I ran the 4x400 relay in high school track my sophomore / her freshman year. We were the B relay but we had fun! I even had her over to my house to play this crazy card game with my parents! She couldn't believe they played it, and vice versa. I've not seen her in years but always look forward to her "Friday Food for Thought" posts on Facebook. They always made me stop and think and were often very insightful. I am going to miss those.

Debbie's family has created a Go Fund Me page to help with her medical expenses and assistance until her disability kicks in. If you are interested in helping her directly, please see the donation page for Team Norton here.

I also decided I would try to raise awareness and funds for research by joining the War on ALS through the Blazeman Foundation. You can read about Jon Blais here and the foundation here.

My individual fundraising page can be found here.

“So Others May Live^®“

Since it's Christmas time...

...here's my list of the 12 Songs of Ironman! 

I'm in a Facebook group for Ironman Louisville 2018, and someone (the group Admin, actually) recently posted the following :

"Here is a fun exercise: Write the soundtrack for your race day. You get 12 songs and they must play in order. ie..wake up, transition, swim start, bike, run finish.
What would your 12 songs be in order?
Now.... when you need motivation, put that soundtrack on and play the day in your mind as you train. Visualization is a powerful tool."

So I thought I'd create my actual list so I can listen whenever I need the motivation!! 

1. Lazy Sunday - SNL Sketch (wake up)
2. Star Spangled Banner (before swim)
3. Let's Get It Started - Black Eyed Peas (swim start)
4. Call me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen (during swim)
5. GDFR - Flo Rida (T1)
6. King of the Road - Roger Miller (bike start)
7. Livin' on a Prayer - Bon Jovi (bike halfway)
8. Feelin' Stronger Every Day - Chicago (finishing bike)
9. What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger - Kelly Clarkson (T2)
10. Waterloo - ABBA (run)
11. YMCA - The Village People (towards end of run)
12. Feel This Moment - Pitbull (finish)

It's happening...

...Ironman Louisville that is!

So excited that this race moved to October and that I'll be there in 2018!

It's official...

I'm doing 70.3 Eagleman in 2018!

I guess training hasn't really started. Yet. But I'm looking forward to it! Hopefully this will be a stepping stone to doing Ironman Louisville in 2018, too!

Happy and Healthy training!

Next Up:
Annapolis 10 Miler
Reston Triathlon

Adding to the list...

CBun from Team Rabbit knocked out a bunch of states a couple of years ago doing the New England series through Mainly Marathons.

I'd like to knock out the Northwest region! Looks like they added this series in 2017, so maybe this will be on my 2018 Calendar in early September...along with Ironman Louisville in October and the Cooper River Bridge Run which is in early April! This would knock out South Carolina! If I like the Cooper River Bridge enough I might be tempted to return two months later to swim under it like some Team Rabbit peeps did this year!

The other weekend I did a training ride in Cambridge, Maryland with Pam and Jeff. Cambridge is so close and easy to get to I might actually consider doing Eagleman next summer as a training race for Louisville. This would be my third time there.

However, a Rev3 race just recently caught my eye. It would be about a month before IMLou and it is in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada - called Barrelman! It would be a great training day / brick for me if I decide to do it. The nice thing is it would be able to drive there (always a plus) and I would get my second international race in! Not that I am really trying to get international ones!

Speaking of international races, I am planning a trip to Dublin in the next couple of years(ish) with my sons. That would be timed so that I can do the Rock N Roll Half Marathon there! It looks like a fun point to point and I know from past experience that it is possible to fly internationally and then run a race! And running is so much less gear intensive than triathlon!

Looking forward to planning for 2018!

Happy and Healthy Training!

Next Up: Age Group Nationals! Eek!!

Updates!

Since my last post on May 12, I started two posts but never finished them. I have a goal to get them both done this week!

Today is Slurpee Day! I'm looking forward to getting one later!

Happy and Healthy Training!

Choo Trip and a Little Race Report

Well, it's been 10 days since Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga! It was a great trip and a great race. The best part was my son was there to cheer me on and even better: we got a phone call that his missing kitty was found! So the even better part was he picked her up on Friday then came up to Chattanooga on Saturday morning.

I rolled into town on Friday a little before noon. I was able to get into my room at the Holiday Inn Express early which was amazing! Once I unloaded all my stuff and took the wonderful phone call from the vet that had Luna and then spoke with Patrick, I was ready to take a walk over to the Athlete Village! I was a tad over dressed, but clearly survived! I had also been hydrating, but it turns out probably not enough. Packet pick up was a breeze, and in hindsight, should have ridden my bike down so as to drop it off for the service I had set up. I had to bring it down after I got back up to my room. Oh well. There were a few fun swag/goodies such as half an Ironman gets you  half a backpack! That kind of cracked me up, but the back pack is cool! And I conveniently had something to carry all my stuff back up to the room in. I also bought some TriSlide since I'd forgotten mine at home - this is the best stuff for putting on before your wetsuit! I stopped at the Ironman store to get a pint glass for my collection and a new water bottle. Not that I actually needed another one...

Once I got Trixie dropped off for service - including new tires - I headed out to drive the bike course. Turns out for the most part I was following another car doing the same thing. I had looked at the course map ahead of time and was curious about this one turn around the half way point that was very sharp...it was also pretty steep once you made the turn. So it was good to have seen that ahead of time. It was a beautiful drive and I was very happy to have taken the time to preview it. The town of Chickamauga was pretty neat, too. And of course, the view of Lookout Mountain!

Saturday morning I got up and did a reverse pre-race brick. I went out for a 15 minute run/walk then hopped on the exercise bike in the hotel gym for 6 minutes. Before too long Patrick showed up and we went to get my bike from the Athlete village and decided it made sense to just drop it back off. After that we headed out for lunch at Taco Mamacita! It was across the Tennessee River and I got a little look at where I'd be swimming the next day. The tacos were different and yummy!

After lunch we headed over to Lookout Mountain - up to "See Rock City" where we took a fun little walk to this amazing scenic overlook! Apparently you can see seven states from this area! It was really beautiful!

We had a small dinner that night of a delicious barbecue chicken pizza from Community Pie. And then for me it was an early night. I had already prepped some nutrition bottles earlier in the day and I knew my 4AM alarm would be there before I knew it! It did rain like crazy that night...we were wondering about all the bikes in transition and what would happen the next morning. I remember all the rain from Ironman Maryland and the swim being cancelled for Pam...

Race morning it was actually dry. Well, it wasn't raining! We drove down and got garage parking (that only cost $8!) and walked over to the village so I could set up my transition area. Things did not look too bad! We hopped on the shuttle to the swim start where we would wait... It was nice  because athletes and their support people could ride the bus together. Eventually the pros went off as scheduled. Patrick left to head back to the swim finish area. However, we never seemed to get going. Turns out the current was a bit strong so they cut out the up river portion of our swim. So instead of going 1.2 miles, we only had to go .8. And it was all with the current! I had a truly effortless swim - the only annoyance was the goggles I wore kept fogging up. I had bought new ones but they had a little malfunction, so...hey it could have been worse!

The steps out of the swim were helpful and this went better than I remember trying to get out of the water at Ironman Arizona in 2011! Not sure I wrote about that, but I remember having difficulty! There were wetsuit strippers and mine came off easily and I ran up into transition and first stop was the porta potty...as I did not have time to pee in my wetsuit because you walked down the dock/ramp, jumped in the water, and started swimming! 

From that point transition went well - for me. I really don't know how long it took but I generally am not fast there, so I got my stuff and got going. There is a bit of an incline heading out and I waited a few minutes before I got into aero position. I actually stayed there as much as possible. I was passed quite a bit, but my goal was just to ride strong - nothing crazy. There were times when I had some good speed going and overall I was pleased with my bike pace. I had no problems making the sharp left turn going uphill to head back. That part was slow going, but thankfully, no one got in my way. And I don't think I got in anyone's way!  I think by the time I turned to make the last 5-10 miles back to transition I was definitely ready to be off the bike. The sun had come out and I felt that it was a bit warm out. I made sure to say thanks to as many volunteers and police as possible!

It was nice to roll back into transition! I had to again stop at the porta potty before heading out on the run...and maybe one day I'll learn to pee on the bike. Or not! At the start of the run there is a short out and back in one direction. I actually got to see Patrick on my way back from there. My goal was to try to keep up a 4/1 run/walk as much as possible. And walk the hills. I resorted to counting steps to keep my mind occupied. It felt pretty warm out there to me, though two guys on the elevator in my hotel later did not think it was that hot! Ack! Anyway, the rabbit ears were a bit hit out there and in addition to making lots of other athletes and volunteers smile, they certainly make me smile! I really enjoyed the run course, despite the heat and the hills, and was quite happy to see Patrick twice while crossing the pedestrian bridge that we cross near the end of each loop. The announcer at the finish line made a comment along the lines of  'this is the first rabbit we've had finish' so that was pretty funny!

We opted not to stay long after I finished. I was feeling kind of gross from the heat so we gathered my stuff up and headed back to the car...where we had to walk up a bunch of flights of steps with my bike and stuff. The elevators there were slow! Patrick headed out after an hour and by then I started to feel better. I had a leftover dill pickle from my Friday night dinner (from Jimmy John's) and I ate that...I swear that had something to do with it! That and being in a cool room. I had yummy leftover pizza for dinner and got a great night's sleep!

As I said, I had no real goals for this race. Well, other than to finish smiling - always a goal! I compared it to the other half iron distances I've done and considering I've not gone long in nearly four years I did OK! Of the seven that I've completed this was actually my third best! So that was a pretty pleasant surprise! Overall I think this was a much stronger bike for me as I've been working on that and biking hills. As for the run, this was my slowest. I've still got some run training to build back up, so when I go long again I'll be more prepared!

In the morning I checked out of the hotel and made a scheduled stop at the Krispy Kreme donut shop in town! I bought a dozen hot - half glazed/half chocolate frosted with a lemon filled to go! Then headed on my way. I planned to make three stops on my way home: in Wytheville at Sonic for lunch, in Bedford at the National D-Day Memorial, and at the Natural Bridge.

----

Well, I started this post over two months ago (May 31 judging from the start!) so I'll just finish it up by saying, that I did make all the stops:
Sonic - got the tater tots I'd been craving
National D-Day Memorial - this was fantastic - I hope they raise the funds for the museum as I would love to go back
Natural Bridge - again, amazing to walk under neath; when I visited Mackinac Island a few weeks after Chattanooga, there is a similar rock formation on the island; also reminds me of the La Jolla Sunny Jim Cave I very recently visited!

Must add some pictures later! 

Single Digits!

As I post this, my countdown timer says 8 days, 19 hours, and some minutes. So really in 9 days I'll be 70.3 Choo-ing along! I'm about as ready for this as I'm going to be. Seems like every race I always think 'I could have done more' but I do think I've done enough. It's been so long since I've gone long distance, that I just want to have a good and fun day! The best part will be that my younger son will be there cheering me on and supporting me!

But first, tomorrow I have a nice half century ride to do! The VCU Health Cap2Cap! I know our weather won't be spectacular, but hopefully the expected rain won't be too bad. It's not a race, though, so I don't have to worry about trying to go fast.

Then on Sunday, the =PR= Mother's Day 4 Miler! I've done a number of PR races before, but never this one! I hope to get a little warm up run in before hand, as well. This will be my second race of four on my 2017 Race Pass!

Happy and Healthy Racing and Training!

26...

Just 26 days that is and I'll be right in the middle of Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga! I know - it's unusual for a second post so soon after the last on April 4! But Since my last post a few things have happened.

First, I basically skipped the Super Saturday in Pittsburgh. It's not that I skipped going to the Pittsburgh area, but I decided I'd rather spend quality time with my family. So I did. It was a great weekend! It included celebrating my uncle's 75th birthday, watching my cousin's son play basketball, and a nice hilly run. Well there was one long downhill and a subsequent uphill.

Second, I successfully completed the 100 100s! Last year I had not been swimming much (hardly at all) and had to modify by using swim toys like fins and paddles and still was only able to swim 8650 total. This year I did the entire 100x100 plus 3 extra 100s at the end since in 2014 I did 100x100=1x100 and in 2015 I went 100x100+2x100. Next year I'll have to do 4 extra 100s!

Finally, this past Saturday I raced the Richmond Tri Club Sprint Triathlon! It was a fun event in a great venue with an indoor 'open water swim'! That's right - it was held in an Olympic size pool and it was a snake swim, but instead of turning at the wall, there was a buoy to go around. In fact, if you pushed off the wall you'd be DQd! They had weighted the end of the lane line down and attached the buoy. It was very cool!

This was a fun swim course!

Anyway, I had a great race but my run could still use some work. However, I did actually run the entire 5k. The best part and surprise was snagging a spot on the age group podium!

I'm always thrilled to snag a podium spot!

So this weekend is the highly anticipated uphill race, the Mt. Summit Challenge! My goals other than to finish smiling, is to first try to improve on the time from last year, and second, to run more of it. Bottom line is if I run more of it I should have a better time!

So 26 days out, and I'm getting very excited about racing 70.3 Choo!

Ultra Training Kickoff Weekend...

...check!

It was actually somewhat of an official kickoff weekend as I just so happened to have back to back races. I had already planned to run the Monument Ave 10K for the fifth time, when I got an opportunity to run the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, which I had not run since 2013. It could have been a bit more than I could handle, but I reasoned that my last several weekends of training that included a run on Saturday followed by a bike ride on Sunday would get me through it. I thought if I raced smart I knew that (1) I could do it, and (2) it would be a good training weekend.

And it did! I'd been doing a lot of hill training for this uphill 3.5 miler I have at the end of April and for Chattanooga 70.3 which is not flat. I've done two three hour bike trainer sessions as well as a couple of hill rides. I figured Sundays CB10 was my bike ride substitute last weekend. Though I do plan to ride or train hills tomorrow night. 

As for this little thing called ultra training, I am now officially registered for the High Bridge Ultra 50K on October 7! Carol and Sally had registered for that last year, and I think Pam as well, when they got the opportunity to run another ultra they had been waited listed for. So they deferred High Bridge to this year. Last year I thought it sounded like such a fun race it was nice to have the opportunity to run it this year.

Anyway, April started off with a bang, race-wise. And it is going to finish with one as well! I have a busy month of races and training still to come:

• 04/08 - Super Saturday (A fun day of fitness in Pittsburgh!)
• 04/15 - 100 100s (It's tradition - a month early!)
• 04/22 - Richmond Tri Club Sprint (My warm-up triathlon!)
• 04/30 - Mt. Summit Challenge

May will be a bit more laid back, schedule-wise, but still busy:

• 05/13 - Cap2Cap 50 (A nice training day)
• 05/21 - Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga (My Spring A-race!)

Happy and Healthy Training! 

Two months...

Yesterday actually was two months until 70.3 Chattanooga! I'm really getting excited about this race and the venue! It's not only my first long tri in a while (the last was Ironman Wisconsin in September 2013), it will get the state of Tennessee checked of my list! There are still 31 states I've yet to race in. And three weeks after this I'll get Michigan knocked out with this race with Lisa!

I've driven through Chattanooga several times on my way two and from Auburn, Alabama when going down with or to visit my son. I've always thought it was so cool as I was driving through. Don't believe we ever had a reason to stop there though. And speaking of my son, he now lives in Huntsville, Alabama and should be coming up to Chatty for race weekend as it is way closer for him that it is for me. So it will be nice to hang out  for a couple of days.

Training is going well. Next month I'll start swimming 2-3 times a week as opposed to once a week now. I'm on the bike twice a week and run twice a week now (in addition to lots of walks/runs with my dog) and may increase that. Or not. I really hope I can start riding outside though soon! So far I have one outdoor ride under my belt and several long trainer rides. I've also been consistently strength training. I have a fun set up in my garage so this makes it easy. Finally, I'm trying to keep up with good / better nutrition habits.

Two months from now I will have (hopefully) crossed the 70.3 Chattanooga finish line!

Happy and Healthy Training!

Blogging lapse...

Lately I've not be up to keeping this blog up to date. It seems to be enough to make sure Team Rabbit's blog is up to date! That is pretty much a reflection of what I am doing anyway!

The latest rap is here!

As of today I am 80 days out from the 70.3 Chattanooga! And I'm getting kind of excited about it! It will be my first long distance tri since Ironman Wisconsin 2013!  I finally got outside on the bike this past Sunday. It wasn't much, but it was a start and something to build on. I'll be heading to Prince William Forest Park a lot in the coming weeks! Eight days before the 70.3 I'll be doing the Cap2Cap Half Century - which should be a good, solid training day.

I also think I've decided on doing a warm up Sprint tri about a month before the 70.3. I've not signed up, but likely will very soon.

My cousin, her daughter, and I will be doing the Mt. Summit Challenge again this year! This time I will be training on hill climbs before hand. The goal - no walk breaks. Or at least fewer walk breaks than last year! I will be doing the Four Courts Four Miler race about 6 weeks before that is 2 miles out (downhill); 2 miles back (uphill). That should be a good training race for me!

This year I am also revisiting an old friend! The Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run! I got a free entry from my credit union, and I am looking forward to running this race again. The first time I ran it was in 2001, and I've run it a total of 11 times! The first three times was as Gina Goodman; the last eight as Gina Welc. My results have been all over the place and my first time running it was my PR. But in 2007, 2008, and 2012 I was not too far off that. I have no time goals this year - other than to beat the bus. Because the day before I will be running the Monument Ave 10K again! This will be my fifth year in a row at that party in the street!

I had thought about doing a 140.6 race this year, but that is going to be postponed till next year. Therefore, the Reston Triathlon seemed like a good choice! It is fun and local, and well supported!

Later this year I plan to venture back into the ultra world! CBun and STUR deferred from a cool race last year - the High Bridge Ultra, a 50K - and since they plan to do it this year it seemed natural for me to join them.

There will likely be a few other races added in, and I've got some race ideas already listed on my schedule but have not been locked down.

The biggest day will be cheering at Ironman Kona for my friend and fellow rabbit, WuDoc! Or  KBun (Kona Bunny) as we now call her! She qualified last November at Cozumel when she went down there, rogue, to finish her 12th Ironman. Her plan was to finish and apply for the Kona Legacy Program... But she WON her age group! So no legacy needed! It was so sweet! I'll be heading over to the big island with other fellow rabbits to CHERPA for her (cheer + sherpa = cherpa)!

And as always...

Happy and Healthy Training!

Random Stuff and Race Reports

In July I did the Sundae 5K with P-Diddles! It was warm out that day and the course was a lollipop shape! There was a two loop circle at the beginning, then the stick was out and back. It was pretty fun. Each mile you had the option to ‘become the Sundae’ with chocolate sauce at mile 1, whipped cream at mile 2, and sprinkles at mile 3. I skipped the first two but did get sprinkled. I was pretty sweaty at that time, so they stuck just fine. Of course, a race called the Sundae 5K had ice cream sundaes at the finish, brought to you by Scoops 2 U!! What a fun idea! There was also a portable shower for those that needed to wash off. You can read the Team Rabbit report about that weekend here.

So back in August, at the end of the month, I did a double. That is two races in one weekend! Saturday August 27 was the Lincolnia Super Sprint Triathlon that I did with STUR and RBud. Sunday was the South Lakes 10K, that I’ve done I think three times now. An interesting note: my father managed the Lincolnia Park Pool when I was a baby!

Lincolnia Super Sprint: The 300 meter pool swim was a nice change from open water, and they gave swimmers a nice distance between each other, before starting the next one. I got lapped just once. The bike course was somewhat flat, but there was a little climb. It was a rectangular loop, not quite 1.5 miles long that we did 6 times! The run… I guess this is what high school cross country running was like for my son!  A good portion of the 2 mile run was in a field, some of which had not been mowed and was about a foot high, damp, and then flopped over. For me a trip hazard! I had to walk a lot of that. The middle portion was a short bit behind Holmes Middle School in the parking lot, then back to more field, but this was mowed! The last portion was on sidewalk/road and while the finish was flat we did have a hill to climb! All in all it was fun and RBud and I managed to sneak onto the podium. I was 6 seconds way from being first overall even. Shouldn’t have taken that last walk break! Haha

South Lakes 10: My goal for this race, which was to be a training run for me, was to run the entire 10k. No walk breaks! Aside for a very brief walk at the mile 4 water stop, I ran the entire race. I even managed to get a negative split. I did not have descending miles, however, because of that pesky mile 5 hill climb! But it is a good race and a nice course. It was pretty warm, that day, but what do you expect at the end of August? I saw a few people I knew on the course: Kim was out there as a marshal and it was a nice pick me up to see her; Tina (who I know of through Kim) was out there with her friend - running in their always fun outfits! They always pick cute stuff!

You can read the Team Rabbit recap from that weekend here! 

Early in September I went on vacation! I visited my god child out in San Diego and we had a blast and fit a TON of things into the four full days I was there.

Wednesday 9/7 – arrived that afternoon and after lunch I did a drop in at a local CrossFit - CrossFit 858 Uptown. This place was only a .8 mile walk from my cousin’s place!

Thursday 9/8 – Roberto’s for bean burritos for breakfast; errands with my god child; Padres game that night. Padres won! Busy day!

Friday 9/9 – Snorkel with Leopard Sharks. Yes, SHARKS! This was through UCSD and the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. We had a class beforehand where we learned about them and their habits. Leopard Sharks are bottom feeders and swam in waist deep water. It was very cool! You could almost reach out and touch them! After this we had lunch – some authentic Mexican cuisine. We worked off lunch walking around the San Diego Zoo! We crashed that night…we were exhausted!

Saturday 9/10 – First up was a 4 mile hike at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve then a Segway tour of the San Diego waterfront. What a beautiful afternoon! There was no time to rest, because that night we hit up a Bluegrass Festival in Santee and enjoyed lots of free food and drink.

Sunday 9/11 – We got to sleep in! But then we relaxed during pedicures and had a late lunch / early dinner with my god child’s mom. From there we had to rush out to get ready for the Lion King at the San Diego Civic Theatre. That was a last minute addition and well worth it. I cannot wait to see it again!

Monday 9/12 – Time to head back East. But not before visiting Old Town San Diego and getting fresh tortillas with butter and salsa and picking up my fortune from Zoltar!

So very sad to leave SD and my GC, but I am already looking forward to my next visit!

I’m clearly not one to sit still, because the weekend of September 17-18 I headed to the City of Brotherly Love with RBug! We were doing the Philly Rock N Roll Half Marathon on the 18^th . I definitely could have been better trained, but still had a blast. It was of course a fun way to see the city, and I look forward to going back as a tourist and checking out some stuff. Like the Eastern State Penitentiary! Besides the run we did fit in a Phillies game the night before the race. What a cool ballpark that was! And they won!!Now my ballparks visited list is up to 12! This includes three that no longer exist…

So, that brings this blog up to date! I cannot believe September is almost over! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this Thanksgiving I’ll be able to run a Turkey Trot. I really missed being able to do that last year. 

Happy and Healthy Training!