I ran my first half marathon!! With a time of 2:02:25 at a 9:20 minute mile average pace, I placed 38th in my age group and 143rd overall. Here are my results!
I went to the registration/packet pick up Saturday in Jack London Square after my bike race in Pleasanton. The See Jane Run staff made an exception to their non-transferable rule to give me Catherine's bib (an OTC friend who had to leave town unexpectedly). #1819 Woohoo. This is going to hurt tomorrow...
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Crazy Critter!
I fished a daddy long legs out of the tub yesterday morning and it didn't dawn on my until just now how my little power animal was paying me a visit before my big race.
With all the foot problems I've been having this year it made sense for me to focus my energy on cycling for a while so I did my first Criterium race a few weeks ago. I got a flat on the second to last lap and my front wheel was a mess, oh man, but boy was it exhilarating to be out on a closed course with a bunch of other fast females! So inspired!
After a disappointing DNF I finally built up the confidence to sign up for another Crit on Saturday, June 20th. My goals, in order, for that race were as follows:
1. stay upright
2. stay with the peloton (ie don't get dropped from the group)
3. suck wheel
4. maintain a competitive position into the last lap
5. sprint last 200m at 30-34mph
My lovely sister Sarah let us borrow her car this whole weekend. So Billy was up at the crack of dawn on Saturday to drive me to the race in Pleasanton with time to register for the race and attend a clinic (where seasoned Berkeley cyclist Meredith Nielsen was instrumental in helping me find the right gear and avoid crashing)! This race was Cat 3/4 combined, so I didn't experience the same problem with overlapping wheels (the field was so much faster!). It was an eventful race with a crash and a flat. I accomplished all my goals, but didn't finish even close to the podium... 15th out of 28 riders. :(
But, hey look, I'm on the board!
Criterium racing has humbled me on the bike for sure. Crits are risky business and winning requires strategy, skill, and speed. Road racing season is right around the corner and I kinda can't wait to sink my cleats into those! I've got about a month to work on my front wheelie. ;)
With all the foot problems I've been having this year it made sense for me to focus my energy on cycling for a while so I did my first Criterium race a few weeks ago. I got a flat on the second to last lap and my front wheel was a mess, oh man, but boy was it exhilarating to be out on a closed course with a bunch of other fast females! So inspired!
After a disappointing DNF I finally built up the confidence to sign up for another Crit on Saturday, June 20th. My goals, in order, for that race were as follows:
1. stay upright
2. stay with the peloton (ie don't get dropped from the group)
3. suck wheel
4. maintain a competitive position into the last lap
5. sprint last 200m at 30-34mph
My lovely sister Sarah let us borrow her car this whole weekend. So Billy was up at the crack of dawn on Saturday to drive me to the race in Pleasanton with time to register for the race and attend a clinic (where seasoned Berkeley cyclist Meredith Nielsen was instrumental in helping me find the right gear and avoid crashing)! This race was Cat 3/4 combined, so I didn't experience the same problem with overlapping wheels (the field was so much faster!). It was an eventful race with a crash and a flat. I accomplished all my goals, but didn't finish even close to the podium... 15th out of 28 riders. :(
But, hey look, I'm on the board!
Criterium racing has humbled me on the bike for sure. Crits are risky business and winning requires strategy, skill, and speed. Road racing season is right around the corner and I kinda can't wait to sink my cleats into those! I've got about a month to work on my front wheelie. ;)
Monday, June 15, 2015
Swimming Milestone #2
This Monday marked the first OTC swim practice *ever* that actually felt like a recovery swim. I swam 1500m (including a warm up and cool down) and was never really winded even though we did four 200s at 70% for the main set. All this can be attributed to the Total Immersion online swimming tutorials and the outstanding OTC coaches at these Monday night Mills practices.
Oh - haha - something hilarious happened at the start of this workout. There was this little boy (maybe 6 years old??) getting out of the shallowest lane and I asked him if he was done swimming there (I knew he was - I just felt like modeling politeness for some dumb reason). He was like, "You shouldn't swim here. It's better practice down there where you can't touch!" LOL... Doh! I was like, "Okay. Thanks!" ...and then slunked into the kiddie lane anyway. Ha!
It's true that it's pretty lazy to stay in the stubby shallow end of the pool, but OTC considers it the "slow lane" and I'm preeeeeeeetty sure I'm the slowest swimmer there, so...... PLUS, I rely on the floor of the pool to be there for me if I need to stop swimming to cough up a mouthful of delicious pool water or whatever (yes, of course, this still happens occasionally). I intend to get into the deep end soon, but *that* - my dear little boy - is a milestone for another day. ;)
The next swim goal on my horizon is to swim continuously for 10 minutes. That may entail getting into some open water soon where there's nothing tempting to hang on to.... Eeeek! Alright. That's all for now. More later!
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