A Little Crosstraining - Skiing in SoCal

One of the bad things that has come out of this whole triathlon thing is my obsession with getting my workouts in...especially my long ones.....on the weekends. It's sad, but I have been known to pass up a lot of fun opportunities to get a long ride or long run in on a Saturday or Sunday. I decided to put a stop to this for one day. My friend Ryan was celebrating his Golden Birthday (27 on the 27th) and wanted to spend the day in the SoCal Mountains. Pat and I decided it would be fun, so figured why not!

We spent the day at Big Bear with Ryan and Erin. I had not skiied in 5 years, so it took a little time to get my confidence back (which for some reason as the years go by gets smaller and smaller....further to fall?) My calf muscles were wrecked for 2 days after, but the sunny, then stormy day, the company, and the crazy ride home made the trek well worth it.

Carlsbad Half Marathon - A PR? No Way

For the 2nd Year in a row, the Carlsbad Half Marathon has been my first race of the year. It's a great race to get geared up for the rest of the season. For the second year in a row, the weather has been PERFECT! Mid- 50s and sunny at race start, low 60s by race finish. Plus, the run is almost entirely along the coast, so the views can't be beat.

Pat and I have been doing our long runs together for the past couple months....usually at Penasquitos Canyon if he has his say. Since my return to running after my foot sprain last fall, my run has really felt terrible. My foot (at least where the sprain was) feels fine, but my arches have hurt, my heals have hurt, my shins have hurt, and I've generally just felt much slower. I think it may be a shoe problem. I would mention that my run "sucked" to Pat on almost all of our runs, but he assured me that I'd still do great in the race. I wasn't so sure....

Race day came, and Pat was right. I did much better than I thought I could. I started off with the 1:50 pace group, but felt really good at the beginning, so I left them around Mile 1.5. With my new Garmin, I could see exactly what pace I was running at all times. Mind over matter, I decided to try run a sub-8:00 pace on the flats. I did pretty well, although had a hard time keeping this up the last 3 miles. By mile 10, I knew I'd be cutting it close if I wanted to PR. So I just pushed as hard as I could.

I came in at 1:47:25, beating my PR by 39 seconds!

Here are the stats....

Total time: 1:47:25

Pace: 8:12

Place: 48/726 (W25-29), 947/6343 (Overall)

Negative Splits!!! Pace after 6.6 miles = 8:18, Final Pace = 8:12....WooHoo!

Recovery consisted of a little bar time with TCSD (and unfortunately watching the Chargers and Packers both lose). Luckily, Scott Richardson was there with his massage table for a little 3rd quarter rejuvination of the legs :)

2007 In Review

Yes, I know, it has been a long time since I have updated this. I'd like to give a big THANK YOU to Ryan Denner for keeping on me to update this thing. Before I start into 2008, I'd like to do a quick review of 2007.

Last year, I did 19 races. Breaking this down a little more.....

• 4 Club Races (Sprint Tris)
• 3 Club Aquathlons
• 3 Sprint Tris (1 DNF)
• 2 International/Olympic Tris
• 2 Half Marathons
• 2 Half Ironmans
• 1 Cycling Race
• 1 10K Running Race
• 1 Boot Camp Challenge (5k Obstacle course)
  

Some highlights from this year include:

• My First DNF - well, not really a highlight, but a good learning experience. I need to practice in big surf and strong current....or.....I need to know when to give up. Most importantly, I learned that DNFing is not the end of the world. Life goes on.


• 2 sub-6 hour half ironmans
  
• An awesome PR at Carlsbad Half Marathon (1:48:04). I was thrilled!


• My first cycling race.....geez there's some crazy fast women out there. Fun race that KILLED my legs!


• Finishing in 3rd place at the Boot Camp Challenge. I even have my Drill Instructor Trophy on my desk at work!

Total Mileage Put in during 2007:

• Swimming: 198,450 yds = 113 miles (Average 3816 yds/week)
• Biking: 2831.5 Miles (Average 54 miles/week)
• Running: 764 Miles (Average 15 miles/week)
  

Other than my running, unfortunately, all of my mileage decreased from my 2006 mileage. I'll blame business school! :)

In Store for 2008:

• Carlsbad Half Marathon
• Bulldog Bike Race
• California 70.3
• Ironman Arizona (Nov.)
  

Those are the definites so far. There will be more to come. I'll probably do a little less racing, and a lot more training in preparation for Arizona. Should be an interesting year!

Stay Tuned.....