Exorcising the demons....2012 in review

2012 was an exercise in patience and trust.  It started out like any other year with goals, plans for the race schedule for the year, etc., etc.  I was thrown multiple curve balls throughout the year and had to work through some times and push myself to experience situations that I had not before.  Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at how it all turned out.

I went into the season running really well.  I had a PR at the 5K distance in January and again at the 1/2 marathon distance in April (despite having tendonitis).  After the 1/2 marathon in April I spent approximately 8 weeks without running--which seemed like forever to me (patience).  I had to cancel out of a scheduled olympic race in June and basically did an aquabike at the Kansas 70.3 race in June.  Eventually I was able to build back into running, but never really felt like I got on solid ground with my run for the rest of the season.  Despite this, I was able to do well at the Door County 1/2 ironman and ironman WI (trust). 

On the positive side of it all, I was able to spend more time on my bike than I ever had before.  I rode more frequently and became more confident on my bike.  I put on some good cycling muscle and improved significantly with my bike splits at all races.  For the first time ever in  my triathlon career I enjoyed riding my bike and didn't question if I could keep up with others.

After my "official" triathlon season was completed following ironman WI in September I decided to try my hand at cyclocross with the goals of improving bike handling skills, getting comfortable riding around other people, and practicing skills such as flying mounts and dismounts.  I was very nervous at the first race I did in October, and although it was just a 20 minute beginner race, when I finished I was hooked.  I had completed the race without crashing (or killing myself), and did not finish last despite starting well behind the field of beginners.  I rode the entire course in the granny gear and did not do any flying mounts or dismounts.  I knew that I could do better.  Eagerly I set goals and signed up for as many races as I could.  I steadily improved.  Each week I had a different goal to target; riding faster, getting out of the start faster and getting a better race position earlier on vs. hanging in the back and coming from behind, doing flying mounts and dismounts, riding the turns and downhills more aggressively, etc.  It was fun!

And then...I injured my back in mid November while unlocking my office door at work.  I spent a week in a back brace and again had to try my best to exercise patience and trust; both of which I still struggle with at times as my husband can strongly attest to.  After about 6 weeks of just walking and doing back exercises 2-3x/day, I was finally able to resume light exercise.  Surprisingly (to me), my fitness is still pretty good.  Again, I learned the lesson of trust.

Overall, 2012 was a year of ups and downs.  I gained confidence in my running and cycling, learned to be patient and trust in my training when injured, and accomplished goals in new endeavors which I plan to continue to target in the future with cyclocross.  Thank you to all of my family and friends who have supported me. Without your support it would have been difficult to accomplish all that I did. I am greatful to each and every one of you.


I look forward to the 2013 season and the process of training for more triathlons as well as another ironman. 

Accomplishments from 2012:

• 5k PR by almost 1 minute
• 1/2 marathon PR by 10 minutes
• improved bike splits at Kansas 70.3 and IM WI
• coming off the bike 1st OA at Door County 1/2 ironman
• PR at IM WI
• qualifying again for 2013 IM World Championships in Kona
• making the podium at a few cyclocross races
• learning to be patient and to trust in myself and my training

You're doing WHAT???

A couple of weeks ago I decided to try my hand at cyclocross with the goal of improving my bike handling skills and confidence.  I signed up for the beginner race in Sun Prairie and was instantly hooked!  Since then I completed the category 4 race at Washington Heights and am looking forward to the race at Estabrook Park this weekend.  Below is a brief synopsis of my first race as a beginner from Oct. 21st.

A couple of nights before the race I borrowed a cross bike from my friend Maria.  I practiced in the backyard the night before the race.  With time and practice I was able to do 10 consecutive flying mounts and dismounts (on the flat grass with no obstacles....).  I felt confident that I could do the race the next day.

The next day I got up and drove to Sun Prairie.  I got there early because Brian Matter (professional cyclist) was giving a clinic on how to ride your bike in a cyclocross race and I knew that I had pleanty I could learn. 

I was by far the worst person in the class.  Everyone else who showed up had already done at least 1 cyclocross race and was just there to refine their skills.  We practiced flying mounts and dismounts over a barracade.  It was horrible.  I got too close to the barracade almost every time and was unable to do the mounts.  We rode a practice lap on the course and I thought I was going to crash and severely injure myself.  It was very frightening.  I ended up walking a lot of inclines and technical parts.  I almost didn't sign up for the beginner race except for the fact that I had driven over an hour to get there, so I forced myself to sign up. 

I lined up at the start line with the other newbies.  There were probably about 7-10 of us.  I let everyone go ahead of me right out of the start and didn't even get on my bike until about 5 seconds after everyone left.  I rode very slowly in the easiest gear the entire first lap.  On the 2nd lap I was more confident and didn't go quite so slow.  I was really scared the entire time, but having a blast as well.  I ended up finishing 4th out of the group and even managed to win an award!  I was amazed that I didn't crash and really felt like I was getting the hang of it (relatively speaking) by the 2nd lap.  I didn't end up doing any of the mounts/dismounts that I practiced, but I was able to ride all of the course (except for a really big hill that most people had to run up and the area with the barracades).  I just wished that the race was longer so that I could have practiced more.  It was a great time!  The goals for the next race will be to become more confident, ride in a harder gear, and try to do at least 1 flying mount/dismount.

This is the hill that most people had to run up.   The really good guys could ride all the way up the inside track where the dirt was a little harder packed.

Ironman Wisconsin

Ironman Wisconsin 2012 

10:36

13th Overall  3rd Age Group

Kona Slot

I am very happy with how my race turned out.  I had dealt with tendonitis in my right leg since April and sprained my foot less than 2 weeks before the race, so I was unsure of my running abilities going into the race.  I went into the race with confidence in my swim and bike, but knowing that the run would be a wild card.

The night before the race I ate about 1.5 cups of rice pasta for dinner.  Before bed I took 6 salt stick tablets.  I set my alarm for 3:30am.  I slept pretty well until about 3am.  I woke up and laid in bed until 3:30am.  Then I got up and started working on my pre-race breakfast (3 salt stick tablets, 3 Bonk Breakers, and a cup of super strong coffee).  I packed up my remaining few things as I ate and we headed down to the race start.  It was a very cold morning.  I wore long pants, a t-shirt, and a jacket, but wished I had a stocking cap as well.  My teeth chattered as I walked.  I dropped off my special needs bags, put arm warmers in my T1 bag, pumped up my tires and put my nutrition on the bike.  I was ready.

After the usual couple of bathroom stops I put on my wetsuit and headed down to the race start.  I got into the water (which was actually warmer than the air) and positioned myself in the front row approximately 15-20 yards right of the buoy.  The water seemed to fill up quickly with swimmers and I found myself getting pushed around a bit before the start.  The cannon went off and we were on our way.  I was surprised at how congested the swim was the entire way.  I got kicked/hit in both eyes at different times during the first stretch of the swim.  Even after I rounded the first corner it was still congested.  Some guy swam over the top of me and I had to struggle for placement and air.  I got dunked and swallowed water on a few occasions.  It was almost as rough as Hawaii!  Finally we rounded the last turn and headed into shore.  I wasn't prepared to pass the Monona Terrace and then to have to angle back into shore after the last turn buoy, but I followed other swimmers and figured it out.  I came out of the water and ran to the strippers who helped me out of my wetsuit.  I ran cautiously up the helix and assessed my left foot as I ran.  It was a little stiff, but not too bad.  I got through transition relatively efficiently and managed to get my arm warmers on with the help of a volunteer.

As I rode out on to the bike course I was glad that I had put toe covers on my shoes and put my arm warmers on.  It was chilly in the mid 50s.  I biked fairly easily and under control as planned out to the stick.  I took a sip of water around 20 minutes into the bike and then the first gel at 30 minutes.  Once on Whalen Rd. I settled into my race pace.  I felt strong and in control.  I didn't look at my power meter as much as usual, but rode more on feel and made sure to cap the hills and not over extend myself.  I focused on my cadence (tried to stay between 90-95) and my nutrition (gels at 30 minutes and 60 minutes, salt stick tablets at 15 minutes and 45 minutes, water every 15 minutes).  The tape on my right aerobar came unraveled and I had to tie it in a knot to keep it in place.  Frequently I had to redo the knot as it kept coming undone.  I started to feel tired heading out to Mount Horeb on the 2nd loop of the bike and the wind felt like it had picked up slightly.  I focused on getting to Cross Plains where I knew my family would be cheering for me.  They were there as promised and rooted me on.  I got a 2nd wind and continued on.  As I descended a hill heading towards Verona I noticed a guy infront of me hitting the breaks and swerving.  I came out of my aero position just in time to see a dog running loose on the course.  Luckily I missed the other cyclist and the dog and didn't have to slow down that much.  With approximately 30 miles left on the bike course I noticed that my right shifter was loose and rattling around.  To my surprise it started to come out of the aerobar and twist around.  I wondered if I should stop and get sag support.  It was still shifting ok though, so I decided just to hang onto the shifter with my right hand and continue on unless it stopped working completely.  Fortunately, it continued to work the rest of the way back to the Monona Terrace.  The last 10 miles of the bike a girl in my age group passed me.  I hung with her and eventually caught back up to her coming up the helix.  As she dismounted in front of me she fell off her bike.  I had to swerve to avoid running over her rear wheel and crashing myself, but was able to do it and dismount safely.

I ran into T2 and worked to get through there as fast as possible as I had just been passed.  The other girl ran out of T2 ahead of me.  I knew I would have to work to catch her on the run.  I ran outside and passed her wtihin the first 1/4-1/2 mile.  I felt strong running, but told myself to slow down.  Apparently my body didn't listen very well because I ran the first mile WAY too fast (6:54).  I told myself to slow down again and was only slightly better, but still too fast (7:27).  After that I was able to settle into my pace.  I passed another girl in my age group around mile 13-14.  I was now in 2nd place.  It felt easy to hold 7:45-8:00 minute miles until around mile 15.  My legs started to slowly cramp.  I was able to keep running, but by the time I reached mile 16-17 I had to walk the aid stations.  The girl passed me back and I became 3rd place once again.  The pain increased from there on.  I tried to take in more salt tablets, but my salt tablets had melted.  At one point I drank the melted salt tablets from my baggie and then semi-puked them back up.  Later I tried to take a gel to see if that helped.  Nothing was doing the trick and it got rough around miles 19-20.  I told myself that I needed to keep running even if it was slow.  This ended up being a good idea because I passed the other girl back once again and reclaimed my 2nd place position.  My running pace fluctuated between 9-9:30/mile and thank goodness for my friend Arnie who was also racing that day!  He had a few extra salt tablets that he was willing to share with me!  I felt slightly better after that, but it was still very stiff and painful to run.  With 4 miles left to go I was passed by another girl.  At first I thought that the number on her leg said either 29 or 39 and was relieved that she was not in my age group.  I took a closer look and realized that it said 34!  I pushed myself to pass her on a down hill with about 3.5 miles left to go.  She ran very strategically, about 10 yards behind me and matched me step for step.  With about 2 miles to go, she made a move and passed me quickly.  I could not respond and was running on empty...it was a feeling of desperation by then.  (Only later did I realize that she slowed her pace once she got ahead of me and actually only ended up finishing about 1 minute before I did.)  I was able to run the rest of the way into the finish with 3rd place in the age group and 13th overall.  I was pleased with my race.  I learned a lot from the run portion of my race about when to push and how to race strategically.

Thank you's:
Mike Pierson with Your Training Zone--coaching
Wheel and Sprocket Northshore--bike sponsor
Zoot--everything else sponsor.  The compression socks were invaluable this year.
Matt for putting up with my nervous breakdowns throughout the season
My family including those present and the ones cheering from afar over the computer.  I couldn't have done it without your support!
Elizabeth Hoffman, ART and massage therapist, for working on my leg most of the summer to get it healthy for this race
TriWisconsin triathlon club--thanks for the great support, awesome friends, and variety of training opportunities
I'm sure that I have forgotten others.  To you guys I am sorry, but please know that I really appreciate you!

Important notes for next time:

• Food eaten day before race day--breakfast: large Starbucks mocha, lunch: Milo's lettuce wrap and lemonade, dinner: 1.5 cups of Tinkyata rice pasta with spaghetti sauce and a water bottle of propel.
• Breakfast race day: 3 Bonk Breakers and a cup of Shock coffee
• Nutrition during the race: 2 gels per hour at 30 and 60 minutes starting 30 minutes into the bike, 2 salt stick tablets per hour at 15 and 45 minutes starting 45 minutes into the bike, water every 15 minutes on the bike, alternating between sports drink and water and coke and water every aid station on the run.  1 gel on the run.  Original plan was for only 1 salt stick tablet per hour on the run, but ended up needing much more than this.  Probably took around 9-10?
• Start the swim on the inside of the buoy to avoid getting clobbered and drinking 1/2 the lake.
• Be more patient on the run and don't run the first 2 miles so darn fast! Mile one was 6:54; Mile two 7:27; Miles 3-10 was higher 7's; Miles 11-17 was mid 8's; Miles 18-20 were walking with 9-10-11 min pace - took in a gel and some ibuprofen to overcome pain in legs-hips-quads; Mile 21 it came around to 9's; Mile 25 was sub 8; Mile 26 8:17
• Put salt stick tablets and Ibuprofen in seperate containers.  May not want to use zip lock bags again as water still got in there and melted everything--ew.
• Goal power was 170 watts with first half hour 140-150; race result was 156 avg/167 nor. 

Me with fellow Zoot team mates and Kona qualifiers Mark Harms and Rick Lapinski.

Me with Sue Pierson (Kona qualifier and super fast runner) and coach Mike Pierson.

Door County Half Ironman

(Mark Harms--fellow Zooter and 1st OA male--and I after the race)

I went into this race not knowing how things would turn out.  I have been dealing with tendonitis in my right leg and have had to take a significant amount of running time off since the Oshkosh 1/2 marathon in April (exactly 3 months ago to the day).  Thanks to some rest and Active Releast Technique (ART), I have been able to start running a bit again.  My longest run going into this race was 75 minutes, so I was a bit nervous as to how I would hold up on the run.  I have been able to work on my biking quite a bit though as a result, so I was hopeful that my bike fitness would carry over to my run.

I knew the weather was supposed to be on the warmer side (although not that warm compared to how it has been lately around here!), so I took 7 salt stick tablets the night before the race.  I woke up at 4am and ate 2 Luna bars, took another 4 salt stick tablets, and then sipped on my pre-race/Gu Brew mix on the way to the race.  We got to the race venu with plenty of time to spare so I had adequate time to pick up my registration packet and prepare.  I rode my bike for about 15-20 minutes as a warm up and did 3, 30 second pick-ups to race pace.  I felt strong and ready to go.  There were quite a few people at the race that we knew, and it was nice to see a lot of familiar faces from all over the state.  It looked to be a great day for a race!

I was in the 1st wave (men and women mixed elite wave).  I got my wetsuit and other swim gear on and headed to the swim start.  I lined up on the left side of the start line to position myself for the first turn and to try to stay out of traffic a bit.  The first bit of the swim was a little rough and I had to fight for position.  I was glad that I had safety pinned my timing chip strap together because someone accidentally grabbed my chip and pulled on it.  I got cut off by some guy and lost my position for the rest of the swim.  The water was smooth and I just concentrated on pulling efficiently through the water.  It was easy to sight because the buoys were relatively close together and easily visible.  I got to the boat ramp and ran out of the water.  I ran over to the wetsuit strippers and laid down.  The strippers had some difficulty pulling off my suit and I had to tell them how to do it.  Once I was free of the wetsuit, I ran to my bike.  I had a good transition and was out on the bike course pretty quickly. 

I was able to hold my goal power for about 20 minutes and then started to falter.  I'm not really sure what happened, but it just felt like my legs couldn't hold the cadence at my goal power.  I worried a little bit, but decided not to dwell on it.  A few guys passed me on the bike and 1 woman did, but I hung with her.  She and I went back and forth for positioning for a while.  Eventually I took the lead and she wasn't able to hang with me.  I got water at almost every aid station on the bike.  At 1 station, about 1/2 way through the bike, I tried to grab a water bottle from a volunteer, but accidentally hit it with my finger and it went flying.  The next volunteer wasn't expecting me, so I just kept going and rode the next 10ish miles without water.  I made sure to grab a bottle at the next station and when I did I was really thirsty!  I kept on and tried to push the pace again on the last 10 miles.  I didn't think I was having all that great of a bike until I saw Matt around mile 54.  He shouted to me that I was the lead woman.  I was shocked!  (He was too.)  I tried to pick up the pace again and hustle it into transition.  I made it in fairly well and got out and onto the run course as fast as I could.  I had no idea how much of a lead I really had and how my leg would handle the run.

I must have really had some adrenaline going in my system, because I thought I was taking the first mile at my goal pace (7:00/mile), when I actually averaged 6:30/mile.  I tried to back it off a bit and ended up running the next mile at 6:58.  By then I was getting hot and my breathing was a bit rough.  I quickly hit up the aid station for some water and my pace slowed to 7:11/mile.  After that the day got progressively rough.  The heat, humidity, and 2 very large, long hills got the best of me.  Most of my remaining 10 miles ended up being between 7:30-7:45 pace.  I had to walk through most of the aid stations to get fluids and I also walked up the steep sections of the hill.  People around me kept giving me feedback and saying that I was the first woman.  They told me that I was putting time into the girl in 2nd place.  I felt pretty fried the last 2-3 miles.  It was all I could do to put 1 foot in front of the other.  I told myself that this race was a race of perserverance and not a day for a PR.  I could tell that my run fitness was good, but not great for the intensity required of a 1/2 ironman.  I was very happy just to be racing and running again.

I ran down the steep hill and into the finish line.  Before I got there I could hear them announcing my name.  I was so excited!  I ran through the finishers tape with my arms in the air.  At the finish line they had tubs of cool water to sit in.  I hurried over and parked myself in the cool water.  It felt great!  I was really happy to be done at last and to have finished well.  I definitely did not have the best power on the bike or even close to my normal run time, but I did what I needed to do to win the race within the elite women's wave.  (Only later did I find out after all of the hoopla that a girl in the 30-34 age group wave went 3 minutes faster than me to have the overall fastest time and take 1st.  It was kind of a bummer, but given the circumstances I was pleased with my race.)

I have had to modify my race schedule quite a bit this season and learn to be patient.  It has been challenging for me at times, and Matt has been fairly tolerant of my crankiness at times.  I appreciate all of support of my family and friends an thus far and look forward to Ironman WI as my next race. 

Oshkosh Half Marathon

Today I officially kicked off my "scheduled" 2012 race season with the Oshkosh 1/2 marathon. We got up at 4am (ugh) and drove the 90 minute drive up to Oshkosh for the race. I ate a pack of GU chomps on the way there. The weather was cool, but great for running. I warmed up for 15 minutes and did 3x30 second intervals at around 5:30 min/mile pace. I took off my warm up clothes and headed over to the starting line.

I lined up in the front row and happened to look over to my right to see some guy totally decked out in Zoot Ultra Team apparel...it was Dana!! I think he was as shocked as I was.

We started the race and everyone took off super fast. The 5k runners had started with us so it was hard to know who was running what distance. I looked down at my Garmin and noticed that I was averaging 5:38 min/mile pace (yikes!). This was a bit fast as my goal was to run between 6:30-6:45 min/miles. I backed it off some and reminded myself that some of these people were running the 5k. After the 5k runners turned off I could see that there was only 1 woman ahead of me. She was pretty far out there and when we hit the first mile marker I noticed that I had run a 6:12 minute mile. I decided to let her go and run my own race. I figured that I would settle into my pace and just see what happened with her. I then ran the next 3-4 miles pretty consistently at 6:25-6:30 min/mile pace, but started to get a slight side stitch. Therefore, I backed it off a bit and ran 6:30-6:35 min/mile pace, which eased the stitch.

Around mile 7 there was a slight out and back section. I was able to see the lead men come around the corner (their mile 9ish) and noticed that Dana was in 1st place! He was running super fast, but had a group of 3 college runners only about 10-15 feet behind him. I gave him a Zoot wave and encouraged him on. (Matt later said that Dana got eaten up by the pack around mile 10, but he held on for 3rd and was only 7 seconds behind the other guys). I held this pace until about mile 10-11 and then I started to fade a bit, running around 6:47 min/mile pace. I was able to run the last mile in 6:39, and finished with a PR of 1:26.

I was pleased with the race and ended up placing 2nd OA. It was a great way to kick off the season.

My slick new Zoot cycling kit!!!

Here's me in my really slick new Zoot Ultra Team cycling kit.

South Shore 1/2 Marathon

Last weekend I decided to do the South Shore 1/2 marathon as part of my training. I was planning to do a 90 minute training run that day anyway, and the thought of running with large herds of people sounded more appealing than running alone. Needless to say I was pretty relaxed as I planned on running easy. It was kind of nice to show up at a race, sit back and spectate while registering and running. I ran with my friend Jodi (who found out she is just a bit faster than she thought that day...). The plan was just to hold around 7:30/mile pace for the entire run. Jodi had averaged 7:22/mile pace last year and she just wanted to have a good race. We started out running and were consistently and easily between 7:00/mile and 7:30/mile. Jodi was doing awesome! She was even talking to me. Therefore, at the 1/2 way point (which was also the turn around), we could see all of the women ahead of us. Jodi counted and mentioned that we were numbers 11 & 12. Seeing how good she was looking I encouraged her to push the pace a bit more and try to get top 10. She was agreeable, so we decided to pick it up a bit. The last 4 miles we were sub 7's. Jodi totally smoked it and I cheered her into the finish line. She PR'ed that day by 4-5 minutes and placed 9th OA! I was pleased with my training run (although it was a bit faster than what I had planned) as I was within 1.5 minutes of my PR. I believe Jodi and I can both run much faster as we were quite social the first 6-7 miles of the race. I'm looking forward to racing the Oshkosh 1/2 marathon in a couple of weeks. It's gonna be a fast one!

Garmin 910xt rocks!

I came back home to good old WI after attending the Zoot camp in Carlsbad, CA and tried out my new Garmin 910xt right away...I discovered that it totally ROCKS! In my opinion, the 910xt is a big improvement over the 310xt that I raced and trained with last year. It's lighter, it finds the satallite faster (and sometimes even indoors!), the display is easier to read, and the display of the mile splits flashes in larger print. (Apparently I must have really crappy vision...). As far as swimming goes, you can now use this model in the pool and it will even count your lengths and give you a stroke count/swim efficiency score. We tried it in the outdoor pool in CA and it worked pretty well for counting lengths. We did not try to calculate a swim efficiency score. I'll have to try that this summer. Overall, I was impressed by the improvements made from the 310xt, which I already thought was a great watch. Thanks to our sponsor Garmin for the support and for upgrading an already great product! I look forward to training and racing with my new 910xt this season!

Zoot Camp 2012

This was my 2nd year attending the Zoot camp in beautiful Carlsbad, CA. I was excited to go back to CA as I fell in love with the San Diego area last year when I visited for the first time. This year was especially nice because Matt happened to be in CA for work. I flew into San Diego on Friday afternoon, picked Matt up at work, and checked into the Grand Pacific Palisades where the Zoot team was staying. We got up Saturday morning and headed to the Oceanside 70.3 race to watch. It was an overcast, cool day but the athletes raced well. We stood at T2 and watched Andy Potts, Heather Jackson, and Melanie McQuaid get off the bike and run great races. We cheered loudly for the Zoot team and even got Mark Harms to smile on the run! We enjoyed the nice CA weather with a training run and a few swims at the outdoor salt water lap pool at the hotel. It was fantastic!

Saturday night I met up with the Zoot team for dinner. Very tasty :) Then Sunday we met for a team breakfast and to get information from our sponsors. We have a couple of new really great sponsors this year including Spy sunglasses and Speedfill waterbottle systems. Garmin was there as well and showed us how to operate our new 910xt watches. We got a chance to see the 2012 and preview the 2013 Zoot products. They look really great and I'm excited to be sporting a lot of them this year!

Sunday night we had another team dinner at a really cool brewery and took team photos. I met some more new fast and friendly team mates and even convinced a few of them to go for frozen yogurt after dinner :) Monday morning we snuck in another swim, ate some breakfast with some fellow team members, and then headed our seperate ways. I can't wait to race for Zoot again this year and look forward to seeing some of my fellow Zooters at races over the course of the season! Thanks to Zoot and our sponsors for another great team camp this year!

Outside Magazine

2012 Outside Magazine

From Left to Right:
Cam Knuth
Matt Amman
Adrienne Amman

Run Into the New Year

I wanted to do a 5k running race for a while, but just hadn't gotten around to it for whatever reason until now. The Run Into the New Year 5k worked out well into my training schedule, so I decided to give it a shot. Leading into the race I was very nervous. I hadn't raced since Hawaii in October and I wondered how speedy I would really be given that I had taken some time off, trained mostly for 1/2 ironmans and full ironmans the past 2-3 years, and that it is now the off-season.

I made sure to do a nice long warm up before the race. I lined up about 3 rows back from the start (about where I thought the other girls were), and the gun went off. I got boxed in quite a bit and sometimes pushed to the outside by the guys. I didn't feel like I was running all that fast the first 1/2 mile-mile, but I was keeping up with the lead group pretty well, despite losing some ground in the jostling. There were probably about 9-10 women ahead of me after the first 1/2 mile. I didn't worry about it too much and just kept running. All around me watches started beeping (signaling the mile mark). I did not have a watch on as I wanted to run on feel alone and focus on having fun rather than a time. I figured we must be at the first mile given all the beeping. Just then I saw the mile marker. It was pretty close. I continued to run, and passed 2 girls around 1.5 miles. I was feeling strong, but starting to get a little tired too. It felt like longer than it should have to reach the 2nd mile marker (and watches were beeping well before we hit the 2nd mile marker, which contributed to the long feeling). Someone yelled to me that I was the 3rd woman. I could see the 2nd place female ahead of me on the out and back sections and knew that she was out of my reach. I just had to hang on to 3rd! I started to feel very tired in the last mile of the race, but I continued to push my way up the hill, around the corner and down the hill to the finish. I couldn't believe that I was the 3rd place female! I also couldn't believe my finishing time...19:06! A PR by 50 seconds! I was very pleased with my race, especially given the time of year and how many turns were in the course. It was a great way to welcome in the new year!