Sunday, September 20, 2009

Hardware and other validation

SUCH a great week. I had four very exciting achievements in the last several days and my confidence is peaked. Watch it crash down completely in time, but for now, we celebrate. Here's the weekly summary -the workouts of celebration are in bold and astrixeed as to not be missed. Behold!

Monday: Strength Training
Some weights with Zach at the gym. I did 200 crunches and was sooooore the next day!

Tuesday: Run
8.0 miles/1:10:30/8:49 average pace
Springwater run

Tuesday: Swim
2150 yards/1:00
Masters

Wednesday: Bike
1:00/Spin class
With Alisa! New random instructor was actually pretty good. Except he made the mistake of assuming the was the hardest-core person in the room, and that pissed me off. Ya, you teach spin class, congratulations. By the way, is this supposed to be hard? Ass.

Wednesday: Run
4.5 miles/40:10/8:55 average pace
Didn't manage to link up with Deana again so I made a point to run as easy as possible on my own (usually keep a great recovery pace when I run with Deana) and this run really did feel effortless. It was raining and I forgot how much I enjoy running in the rain. Good thing, huh?

Wednesday: Swim ****
1:20/3500 yards
Big volume day in masters including lots of fast intervals. Then I stayed 20 minutes after class and swam another 1000 yards and could have stayed until they closed the pool. This was my longest swim session ever!!

Thursday: Bike ****
23.9 miles/16.6 MPH
Springwater trail out-and-back with a nice headwind half the time. This is my fastest training ride ever!!

Friday: Run
4.0 miles/36:31/9:08 average pace
Nothing notable about this run, besides that I was slightly drunk. Went to Emily's final dress fitting and had celebratory champagne and appetizers after because it's the best week of her life. The run was a bit painful and I nearly crapped myself. It was totally worth it.

Saturday: Bike ****
62.5 miles/3:48:38/16.4 MPH
Sauvie Island ride with Zach. We waited until about 11:00 to start because it was raining and predicted to clear, which it did. We saw Alisa and her husband a few miles in, they were finishing up and looking good. This was an awesome ride. My legs were feeling it but I kept a good pace and pulled Zach along the whole day. Finished really strong and was very excited to see my time. When did I get so fast on the bike?!!?

Sunday: Run ****
14.2 miles/2:06:28/8:54 average pace
Timberline Half Marathon

Mini Race Report:

This was really just a training run for me since I'm in the middle of a high volume stretch and don't really want to spend any time recovering. Zach was excited about this race and we signed up months ago, but his knee has been bothering him so he didn't even run. He was cool about it though and drove up with me early this morning and spent the morning taking photos and cheering all the runners on.

It was shockingly cold up there- about 40 degrees at the start! I am glad I thought to check that before we left the house. I threw in my arm warmers and encouraged Zach to grab a jacket. It ended up only warming up to about 55 degrees by early afternoon. Brr! Very comfortable for running though.

The course was all singletrack and while it wasn't very hilly it was rocky and root-y and twisty and hard. Also we were at about 3500 ft elevation which I noticed a little, especially on the few short climbs.

I figured I could run about 9:00 pace pretty comfortably and based on that I projected I would finish in about 2:07. The start was interesting- they had one person start every few seconds to space us out on the trail. Everyone seemed to seed themselves appropriately and there was actually only minimal passing over the entire race.

Turns out I ran almost exactly my projected time but it was WAY harder than I anticipated! I felt like I was running half marathon pace the whole time. I was flying. It was awesome! I started off strong and kept it up for the whole race. I led a group of runners for a few miles early on- it was kind of annoying having someone literally breathing down my neck but it definitely kept me moving. The first half of the course was way more technical and my pace reflects that fact. The rest of the race was a lot smoother and faster and slightly quieter- I only got passed a couple times toward the end. I was surprised to see Zach a few times - he drove down and found me at three points in the last half of the race (pics below). I was feeling really tired but having fun.

I finished in 2:06:28 which was slightly faster than I had predicted. Yay! We stood around chatting with the other runners- it was a really friendly group of people. One guy who finished just after me had run the full marathon the day before! (it's a two-day series) Wow.

After a few minutes Zach went and checked the results and came back and told me I took 1st in my age group! So we stuck around for awards. It was cool hearing them call my name. I don't think I've ever been first before?! I got a cool medal that says "1st" !! :)

We hit up a delicious deli in Timberline for lunch before we drove home. It was the best sandwich I've had in Oregon I swear. The bad news? I got stung by a mother effing BEE! I haven't been stung by a bee since I was a kid and I forgot how freaking painful it is. I was initially scared- we had *just* heard about a guy who had to be life-flighted out from the race yesterday because he was stung and had an unknown allergy. :( But alas, I am fine. I called my parents to tell them about my race, ask if I was allergic, and listen to my dad tell me an awesome home remedy for painful stings (see final pic and caption below). They are the best parents! :)

Here are my splits from the race from the Garmin:

1- 839
2- 935
3- 923
4- 911
5- 856
6- 839
7- 854
8- 835
9- 858
10- 832
11- 842
12- 858
13- 945
14- 844
last 0.13 according to Garmin- 0:54


official finish time: 2:06:28 (8:54 pace)
1/35 age group (25-29)
10/221 females
43/318 overall


Well that's my report. Now here are my totals for this amazing week:

swim: 3:20 (7950 yards)
bike: 6:15 (87.4 miles + 1 spin class)
run: 4:30 (30.7 miles)

total training time: 14:05



Some pics from today's race:

Race morning:

Immediately after the start:

Starting area after I was already off and running:

Pic Zach took while I was running:

Mile 9.5 or so:



Mile 11.5 or so:



About a mile to go (I had just passed both those guys, fyi):

The finish:


Getting my AG Medal (I was really hoping for a podium and bouquet of flowers, but I forgive you)





Gross foot picture: This is a paste of meat tenderizer and water on my bee sting. Words of wisdom straight from my father's mouth and you don't doubt a born-and-raised Montanan on things of this nature. Especially when he's your dad.

21 comments:

KK said...

Wow, congrats, what an awesome race for you, save for the bee sting. That looks like a seriously technical, yet awesome course. You looked like you were flying and your splits confirm you were. Yay!

Also, congrats on the other milestones this week in training...IM, here you come and there's NO stopping you!!! And i hope Zach's knee gets better, that is NO fun.

P.S. Funny about the "I forgive you" part.

Amy - the gazelle said...

I have thought about doing that race the last couple years. It looks so awesome!

Great photos! We were at Timothy Lake for Labor Day - and it poured all weekend! So jealous of the views you got.

What an exciting week. You are doing so well & staying so strong. Way to go!

Susan said...

What a crazy awesome week for you! I can't believe how much you train and how successful your workouts have been lately! Keep it up, speedy lady! Congrats on the medal...gotta love the hardware.

Gotta Run..... said...

Great, strong week for you! that HM race route looked amazing!!! Makes me want to run there right now.

Bee's suck. Got stung by one while riding. Hurt like a mother.

Keep the strong training up!

John said...

First place!!!
:)

Petraruns said...

Jen you are just amazing. What a week - tell me you must sleep well at night after days like yours. Well done for the first prize as well - I think that medal is cooler (and will last longer) than a bunch of flowers. Buy yourself a bunch as well though - you deserve it. KEep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

Huge week. Great job Jen. Glad to hear things are going well and you are seeing improvement, especially on the bike. The pictures are great.

kristen said...

Girl, you are on fire! What a hardcore week indeed. Great job on that monster swim and you are getting super speedy on the bike, especially those longer distance!

Your so tuned up!!

Great job on the race too. I love the smirk on your face after you chicked those two guys. You go girl!!

p.s. what kind of arm warmers do you have? I bought a pair that sucked balls and I want to try another.

Alisa said...

Awesome week lady! Hello speedster on the bike!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really hope we can do training rides together next summer but I'll certainly need to get faster =).

My butt hurt so bad yesterday running and I wasn't even doing a race, nor did I ride as far as you on Saturday--one word:AWESOME!!!!!!!

Love your first place medal too. At our celebratory party in November/Dec after IMAZ there will flowers and a podium just for you!

See those pictures makes me even more jazzed about planning our PBJ mini vacation.

Aron said...

woooo AWESOME job on the week! i love all the bold and *** - definitely awesome!

awesome job on the race too and FIRST place in your AG!!! yayyyy. man i am jealous of those arm warmers and rainy runs you have been having!

Anonymous said...

Great blog---too bad about the bee sting! Great training...you're an inspiration!

Beth said...

Another great week Jen! COngrats on another AG placing too!

ShirleyPerly said...

WOOHOO! What an awesome week you had and to top it off with an AG win in a half marathon, AMAZING!!!

Beautiful photos too from your race. You look so strong and fit. Iron training is doing you good as well :-)

Keep up the good work, Jen!

Ewen said...

1st. Woohoo! That sounds like my kind of race - well, except for maybe the altitude. Good pics from Zach (sorry he couldn't run), but he needs to zoom in a bit - or are you running so fast he can't get you in the frame?

Great week Jen - you're right on top of your game at the moment. Yes, good thing you enjoy running in the rain - it's the Pacific Northwest you know ;)

SavvyFitChica said...

Awesome week! Great race! Wow! I'm on a high with you!

Glad to hear you're not allergic and I'll have to remember that bee-sting remedy. Hopefully I never need to us it.

Your post cracked me up- first, you running drunk and almost crapping yourself, "by the way, is this supposed to be hard?", forgiving them for no flowers...

TOO FUNNY!

Amy said...

Hilarious, I love your dad too. What a great week! Yay for confidence boosters! I am so excited for your 1st place finish!!!! Pictures were great too (thanks Zach).

Dragonfly on the Water said...

Congrats on 1st place. Looked like a beautiful day. Keep your smile on you at all times. Ouch on the bee sting.

Kim said...

WOOHOOO JEN!! you are absolutely amazing! and you look SOOOO lean!!!! and i love that you look so happy in all of your pictures.

congratulations on an amazing race and fantastic win!

Unknown said...

Hey, I'm glad I finally caught back up with you! It's great to see you're still doing so well and turning in some kickass workouts. Can't believe your IM is getting so close!

Judi said...

looks like it's all coming together. good for you!

Anonymous said...

great training week and great race! Love the medal :) I have yet to be stung by a bee and am overly paranoid I am allergic and don't know it :-/