Wenatchee Half Marathon

Last night I headed across the pass to Wenatchee to run a half marathon this morning. Kainoa wanted me to run a half marathon as part of my training and this one worked out well with my training - all last week was a recovery week so I actually got to rest up a bit and have some energy to see where I am at.. It was just going to me running but luckily Hallie and Greg decided it would be a perfect weekend to head east to the sunny weather to train and Greg ran the half with me which made it so much more fun.
Ok so the race... I got a hotel room literally a block away from the start which was awesome. When I went down to get my race packet at 6:30a it was already getting warm so I stopped second guessing and went with out arm warmers and just ran in a tank top and running skirt and I would still overheat...
I met Greg at the start at 7:30a and we did a warm up run. Hallie met up with us after she found Tika who went exploring and was luckily found quickly. She made sure to take a quick picture to show our team involvement.


My race plan was to start out around 8 min/mile pace and depending on how I felt I would try and run negatives the second half or at least the last couple miles. I had my nutrition plan that I use at most races - I took sport legs and a salt pill since it was so warm. Then I usually eat a gu at teh start and every 3 miles (mile 4, 7, & 10). I ran with my hand bottle since it is easier to actually drink out of then cups (and at this point it feels weird to run with out it). Seemed doable based on where I have been in training.

It was obvious this was a low key race when they were setting up the timing mats less than 5 min before the start. Greg and I knew better than to start on the front line so we hung back a couple rows. Once the "gun" went off it only took a couple seconds to cross the mat and we were off.
The first mile felt way to easy I just ran and did not look at my garmin... Mile two was similar even with a few small uphills. It was not till mile 3 that I realized my heart rate was already up at 189 bpm when I usually race mostly at 181 bpm and only hit that high going for the finish line. ouch! and I realized I completely messed up my race plan. I also looked at my average pace which was 7:45 at that point. My focus immediately went to get your heart rate down.
It would have been a lot easier to recover from going out to fast if the rest of the course was not constant up and down hills. So at this point I ate a gu at 3.5 instead of 4 mile mark and I was already getting really warm. It is so much dryer on the east side of the mountains that my mouth felt constantly dry even if I just drank.
I did not really know the course so I just tried to keep my heart rate around 181bpm and just stick to my nutrition plan through the rest of the race. I kept drinking from my hand bottle and tossing water on my head to try and cool off. At one of the water stations I took a cup of "sports drink". Within the next mile my stomach started to feel upset and sloshy...

At the turn around Greg was only a minute or two behind me and he looked strong so I fully expected him to pass me at any time. Sure enough around mile 9 or so he passed me. I tried to stay with him for about a mile but he ran so strong up the hills and by mile 10 I let him go. My stomach was really upset and I tried to burp or something but instead wound up throwing up. At least my stomach felt better almost immediately after and I just kept going. I even managed to eat my gu a little while after and it felt fine.
At this point I knew the last couple miles back were mostly uphill so I kind of just tried to keep Greg in sight and finish as strong as I could. I mean it is just a couple miles...
So I ran the last bit and then up and over the bridge to the finish and I was done.

The stats:
Gun time - 01:52:28
Chip time - 01:52:21
Pace - 00:08:35
Age group F2529 - 9/55
Average heartrate 184 bpm, Max 191 bpm

Garmin mile splits (13.24 miles)
1 - 7:14, 2 - 7:48, 3 - 8:00, 4 - 8:09, 5 - 8:40, 6 - 8:21, 7 - 8:15, 8 - 8:55, 9 - 8:25, 10 - 8:57, 11 - 9:08, 12 - 8:49, 13 - 9:09, .24 - 2:36

The red line is my heart rate and the green is the elevation.



Overall I am content with my effort and it was great training race to remind me to pay way more attention at the beginning of the race to actually fallow my race plan and not go out to fast. I did not ever think I could run a 7:15 m/mi right now lol. Luckily after a swim and bike ride I am much better at pacing myself ;) I also loved how low key the race was and it had a fun local feeling to it. It was perfect weather and now that I know the course I would even run it again. Sure there is not a lot of elevation change but really there is no flat - it is either up or down.

Pre Nike Women's Marathon 2009

I have started this post a couple times but never got very far.. 1st it was to wait to get some pictures to post, then I was tired or just not motivated which usually means I'm not really sure how I feel about my "race" so have not had much to say. I went in with my plan of not really racing it after taking almost a full month off, having a cold and upset stomach the week before that mostly just focused on finishing and enjoying the weekend. Not really what I envisioned the event when I signed up. Anyway the fun stuff...

We flew in to San Francisco early Saturday morning. Kyle and my Mom are both are not morning people so it was a bit of a stretch for them but we got through it and they got lots of coffee and Kyle took a nap on the plane. We took the BART into downtown and after dropping our bags at the hotel we headed straight to the registration to grab our bibs ect.
Then we were off to the nike store to get a sweatshirt of something before they sold out. The place was a total zoo but i was happy that they still had small sizes left.
We also did the custom shirts made that said "run like a girl! Linda & MacBeth" on the back. They are very cute and the shirts they put it on are very soft. We also found our names on the list of participants they put on the windows of the nike store.. good thing they were alphabetical.

Since I would not be "racing" the marathon I wanted a running skirt to wear so I would feel less like I was supposed to be racing. I knew Lululemon had one I wanted but the lame store near me at home had no sizes so I wanted to go to the store in SF in hope they would have one. Of course they did :) and in the process introduced my Mom to lulu hehe. Jerry was a sweetheart and got her a pair of running tights and a pair of gloves for her birthday.

At this point we completely burned both Kyle and Jerry out on all things Nike Women's marathon lol. So we decided to go in search of lunch. The guys both wanted fish and chips so we headed on foot to teh waterfront only to figure out that we needed to walk 2 miles to get to fishermans warf... But it was sunny and warm out, I had my running shoes on so my feet were good, we got to see Alcatraz Island along the way and best of all found a place for Kyle to rent a bike so he could get around the course better. Honestly by the time we got there I was getting a bit cranky from hunger and being on my feet so long... so we quickly picked a place and since I really wanted to sit down for a bit we sat inside vs buying fish and chips on the street.

After lunch Kyle headed off to rent the bike and my Mom, Jerry and I walked a much shorter route back towards the hotel. Only isn San Fran would you see such a nerdy tour as a segway tour - seriously cracked me up..

Once we made it back to the hotel I put my feet up and slowly started gathering together what I needed for the marathon. I decided not to wear my team kit at all and just went with the lulu run skirt, sugoi fizz tank so that everything felt like training and not racing for me.
I was not very hungry the rest of the night so I wound up having frozen yogurt for dinner which was perfectly yummy. I had one last talk with my coach over my plan and how I was feeling ect and then I think I fell asleep around 8:30 or 9pm which is even early for me but after the early morning flight and walking around I was tired.

Beaver Lake Sprint Triathlon 2009

This is the 3rd time I have done the Beaver Lake sprint tri. Mostly it is the bike course that keeps me coming back. It is is essentially downhill on the way out and uphill on the way back with my favorite 2-mile staircase like hill the meat of the course. Other than that I just like the small local atmosphere, the community really seems to come out in support of the race.
Anyway on Friday I was bit worried because my legs still felt tired esp when I walked up stairs. So i did not really know what to expect. I talked with Kainoa and she told me just to go all out and not hold anything back since it is a short race. The main goal was to just go faster than last years 1:30:39.
As usual I like to get to races early just in case and so I have plenty of time for a warm up and to use the porta potties before a huge line forms. So we left the house around 5:30a with a cup of Via + chocolate milk in hand (Kyle had a double).
We got to the park and I got my packet and since we were so early I got my choice of spots on the rock - of course I went on the end. It did not take long to set up my transition since really don't need very much for a sprint.. I was a little worried because it was kind of cold and considered having a vest ready but in the end decided it was just a sprint it would not be long enough to really matter if I was cold or not.. and to be honest if I was going all out I would not be cold even going downhill.

When I got back from my :20 min warm up run my Mom and Jerry has arrived with the HUGE sign and the camera.

I was the 7th wave to start and even though it was 29 and under I think there was only about 25-30 girls. Since it was so small I went ahead and started front and center. As we started I tried my best to stay with the few obvious swimmers but wound up in open water between the swimmers and the rest of the wave. So no draft for me but at least I did not have to fight my way or anything. Just as planned I went full out the entire swim which felt great.
As I came out of the water Kyle yelled at me that I was 5th out of the water - which must be why I'm smiling. I think it is the first time I don't look horrible coming out of the swim :)

I got in and out of T1 as quickly as I could and got on to the bike :) I was kind of shocked to see that my heart rate was well up at 181 bpm already but then remembered that is usually where it is when I race. Anyway I quickly got into drops and was off. Honestly i just focused and stayed after it. When I headed down Duthie Hill Road I was shocked I actually passe a bunch of people. I don't think I have EVER passed anyone on a downhill but I knew there was a flat runout and eveb a sligt uphill before the sharp right turn. It was really nice to know the course so well.
I looked for girls in my age group but never really saw any - it did not help they used skinny sharpies to do the body marking so it was not very easy to see.
I kept after it on the flats on 202 and after the right turn started the climb. I did exactly what I planned. I road strong up the 1st two climbs, kept after it on the flat sections and waited to really go for it till the last climb. I passed a ton of people and had so much fun. As always I LOVE this climb.
There is a couple of miles to get back to T2 after the top of the climb and I felt great and just focused on keeping the cadence and intensity high. I ate one plain gu on the way back and dark a bit more of my gatorade.


I rode hard all the way into T2 and had a good transition though I did take an extra second of two taking my glasses out of my back pocket... Oh well.

As soon as I started the run I was a bit worried my legs felt very heavy but i dug deep especially when Kyle said there were not any girls in front of me. I ran as fast as I could and even though my legs hurt I pushed it as much as I could.
It was kind of funny around mile 1.5 or so a friend of ours passed me for the second time and asked out I gained so much time in transition lol. I tried my best to stay with him but he ran a bit away from me - I did keep him in sight most of the run. I always forget how many hills are on the run. They are all pretty short but they hurt. I managed to keep my pace well under an 8 m/mi pace and as I got closure to half way i started to ratchet it down even more. At this point all I was looking at was my overall time and knew I really wanted to go sub 1:30:00.The last mile I ran fast as I could and totally ignored my screaming legs. I managed to get my heart rate up to 193 bpm lol and even better my pace under a 7 m/mi.

I had so much fun pushing myself so hard but I was so glad to be done.

Kyle my super sherpa and I


Kyle, my Mom and I

Final Results
1/4 mi Swim 0:07:32
T1 1:34
13.8 mi Bike 0:44:37
T2 0:54
4.3 mi Run 0:33:01
Overall 1:27:38


We hung out and chatted with everyone, grabbed some water, food and once they had results up I went and looked at the results. I was so excited because I thought I had finished 3rd in my age group. So we decided to hang out for the awards. My Mom used the time to take more pictures.

It took a while but eventually they did awards. They did the overall awards first - the overall female was in my age group so when they got to my age group I was shocked that they called my name for 1st pace. I could not believe it I have never really won anything so I was so excited for 3rd but 1st.. Really!!!!


To say the least I am very happy with my race. I executed my race plan, pulled off a 3 min PR and they gave me 1st in my Age group as well. I would defiantly say it was a good day. Not to mention a perfect confidence builder going into the next couple of months of marathon training. I will defiantly be pulling on this memory in training to get me out the door and make teh most of my training and listen to Kainoa. The rest of the day I could not stop smiling and even had a hard time taking my post race nap because I was just so excited lol

I have to say thank you to Kyle for waking up so early to support me and cheer me on through out the race. It was very motivating here him cheering and telling me where I was in my age group and having him there made it even better to do so well.

Also Thank you to my Mom and Jerry for being at the race cheering and taking so many photos. It really means so much know you were there supporting me.
I feel very lucky :D

Swedish Summer Run 10k 2009

A while ago my Mom decided on a 10k to run in preperation for running the nike half marathon in October. She choose teh Swedish SummerRun because she liked that it was in support of the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research. I decided to run it in support of my Mom and because why not it is a 10k and would be a good bench mark for my marathon training.
On July 27th my Mom picked me up at 6am and we headed to the start. I have to say I looked at the course map a bit but there was no elevation map and since it was "just" a 10k did not really worry about it much. So it was not til that morning that I really figured out that the course is actually very hilly. Oh well no really time goal mostly Kainoa wanted me to run negatives and push myself and see what I could do.
Ok so we got there super early, got front row parking pretty much, no lines at the porta potties and I had plenty of time to do my :20 min warm up. My Mom fallowed behind me and we ran around the block a few times and added a few pick ups just to get the heart rate up.
The 10k runners lined up at the start after they did a aerobics warm up thing that i have never seen at at he start of race before but most people seemed to have fun with it. We started not to far forward but not to far back either. We wished each other luck and we were off and running.
My race plan was to start conservative and then pick up the effort through out and finish as strong and fast as I could not leaving anything for later. Just run hard.
I think teh chart from my garmin shows it best. The grey line is the elevation and the red is my heart rate.

I did my best to keep at it even up the hills that seemed to go on forever. I seriously think it was 2 miles of flat/downhill and 4 miles of uphill. The weirdest part of the race was how quiet it was all you could hear was shoes hitting the pavement and nothing else except one lady that every time she saw a volunteer she thanked them.
Since they had water on the course and it was only a 10k I decided not to carry my own liquids which was kind of nice except I did manage to get water up my nose at one point which was fun... After that I mostly just tossed the water on my head.
The kind of annoying part was when the 5k merged with the 10k course and a lot of the 5k people were all over the road with strollers and everything.

Since I did not know the course I just focused on increasing my effort as I went hills or no hills.. well there were lots of hills even up to the finish line. I heard Chris (Kainoa's Husband cheer me on) and then saw Jerry and the finish line.


My mile splits were
1 - 7:59
2 - 7:54
3 - 7:35
4 - 9:16
5 - 8:30
6 - 7:20
.34 - 2:48

Gun Time 00:51:34
Chip Time 00:51:23
Average Pace 00:08:17

20-29 AG 5th/134

Not a PR for me but I am happy with the effort and I followed my race plan so I would call it a good race :)

My mom also did a great job. She kept running up all the hills and I am so proud of her. She is so cute look at that smile :)
My Mom's final times
Gun Time 01:04:50
Chip Time 01:04:37
Average Pace 00:10:24

50-59 AG 10th/24

A good day all in all for Team Super Cute

Seafair Sprint Triathlon 2009

On July 19 a huge group of the Pauole Sport team came out and did the Seafair Sprint Triathlon. So of course Kyle and I did it as well. The weird thing was is as it got closure I really was not that excited about dealing with the logistics and racing such a short race.. But once we got there on race morning with so many people we knew I had such a great time.
The racked the bikes by bib number which must have been based on when you registered because Kyle and I were right next to each other. At least I knew who to blame if all my stuff was tossed everywhere lol

I only brought 1 pair of run shoes and since they close T1 I had to get my :15 warm up run in before they shut it down even though I started almost a full :30 after the start. The warm up went well as always and then I got in my wetsuit and headed to the lake to watch the elite wave start, then Kyle and finally get in the lake myself. It was chilly and I could not help shaking uncontrollably while waiting to get going.

Finally my wave got started. For some reason most of the pack seemed to swim way left and round but I just went straight so I did not really get much of a draft :/ but at least I did not swim extra. I did however forget to kick lol and about half way I had to remind myself this was a short race and I should pick up the intensity a bit and actually kick a little more.

I came out of the water and headed into T1 and got the wetsuit of fairly fast and got the helmet on with no issues and was out on the bike. Not to bad for only my second transition this year... and first with a wetsuit..

The course is pretty much flat compared to all the rides I have done this year and since flats are not my strength I was not really expecting much. But I managed to pass a ton of people and more importantly only got passed by a few of the relay cyclists who were all decked out in cycling kit. I made sure to try and drink at least half my bottle of gatorade and had a gel half way so that I would not have to eat or drink anything on the run.

In no time I was heading back to transition and out onto the run. It was kind of weird I felt really dizzy on the 1st mile of the run which has never happened to me before. It also felt kind of hard and I did not get why until my garmin told me it was mile 1 and I had run it in 7:40.. hmm yeah no wonder it felt hard. I managed to find a good rhythm and not really slow to much till the hill.. Stupid hill more like it. I'm glad I ran the course a couple days before and found out about it because it was steep. I tried not to completely redline it but of course I kept at it.. But once I reached the top I picked it up as much as I could on the way down and did my best to maintain that momentum and effort all the way to the finish. The last half mile I ran in 3:20 which is a 6:40 m/mi pace :) and my heart rate appropriately reached 190 bpm.


Final times
1/2-mile Swim 0:16:03
t1 1:49
12-mile Bike 0:38:05
t2 1:27
3.1-mile (5k) Run 0:24:46

Overall 1:22:10
Age group 16/124

In all I am pretty happy with how the race went and how I finished in my age group and such. Not to bad for not doing much speed work lol.

After the race the team all got together for a team photo... check out all the orange. It was so much fun racing and seeing so many people from the team out there.

Ironman 70.3 Hawaii 2009 Race Report

On race morning just like I prefer to do I got up super early so we could be to to T1 with tons of extra time to spare and no need to rush. Kyle pumped my tires, I filled my bike bottles and salt sticks, I made sure my bike shoes had lots of glide in them so no blisters and random other small details. I also realized the best part about getting to T1 early is no lines for the porta potties and they don't stink yet.
After getting body marked and another quick review of the bike we headed down to the beach to hang out and get ready for the swim. We got a quick pic of all the people from the team Pauole Sport that did the race. (Eric, Laurie, Aaron, Mike, me)
Of course had to get a few more pre swim pics - at least this time I did not cry when my Mom hugged me like in Clearwater. and with that I was off to go get in the water.

I decided to start out in the water rather than on the beach so I swam out into the masses and found a sport in the middle of it all. The current kept pushing everyone past the start line so they moved us back a couple of time till finally the cannon went off to my surprise lol. I remember thinking "oh ok was that the start already".I felt pretty good. There was a little chop on the water but nothing worse then the pool at masters swim. I love how clear the water is - you can see all the people around you and avoid getting kicked most of the time. I do have to say that the people(seemed to be mostly guys) that stop and breast stoke suck. They all of sudden start kicking sideways and I got a few kicks in the ribs and sucks. The only other annoyances/issues was that my swim cap kept sliding back off my forehead so I had to pull it back on a couple times.. Anyways I felt good and just swam my best. I stayed mostly on course and felt like I was more in the middle of things than in previous years. The waves mostly brought me into shore and I still felt happy about my swim overall. Then I focused on trying not to fall on my way up the beach.. Then I ran up the hill to the rest of T1, pulled the speed suit off, shoes on, helmet, glasses, race belt and I was off.. I am so glad no one I knew saw what happened next - after peddling for a minute I thought it felt like my rear tire was flat or low and tried to look at it. Now coming out of the water I don't always have the best balance so I acted like a total clutz and rode my bike off the pavement and into the gravel almost tipped over.. and stopped and checked my tire all the while feeling like a total dork when it was fine.

I started the bike with a little bit of fear that my leg/hip would hurt and have issues so I focused on smooth circles, just getting into a rhythm and start getting in the nutrition. Before checking my bike on Friday Kyle had move my seat back just a little bit and by the turn around at Mauna Lani I could tell my hip was not getting as tight as it had been. so I picked up the effort some but at the same time my legs felt alright but not super perky.
I felt good through the rollers and continued to be surprised and happy my leg did not hurt but i did find that I felt the climbs more in the glutes than normal.. and stayed with it. I took a salt every :30, sport legs every :30, a gel every hour and drank frequently.. I had started with 1 bottle of acceleraid and at the second aid station I tossed it and grabbed another bottle of gatorade. I am done with it - it was upsetting my stomach. So the rest of the race I just drank gatorade endurance (I could hear Kyle cheering - he hates the stuff and how it leaves gunk in bottles afterwards).
Laurie passed me at some point and we cheered for each other - I think she even said see you on the run..
The climb up Hawi was not to bad till got to the final climb and the headwind that joined in on the fun. The best part is I finally felt warmed up and found my rhythm so I passed a lot of people on the climbs which always feels good :) Thank you hill repeats.
I faced one of my biggest fears on the way back down and I continued to stay in my aero bars and no touching the brakes :) (teeth chattering smile). Mostly I was just soooo happy that I made it up to Hawi with no leg pain. I was a bit bummed to see that I was a bit off my desired time but at that point i did not care to much just knowing my leg did not hurt. So I stayed focused and kept up on my nutrition all the way back to T2.
On the turn off from the Queen K I found it funny that most people seemed to act like the bike part was over even though there was 3 more miles - so even though I was not supposed to not pass I did.. a bunch. and just like that I was in T2.
I came in dropped the bike, grabbed my run bag, switch shoes, switch helmet for hat and grab gel bottle. I looked for volunteers putting sunblock on but did not see any, considered the porta potties but did not want to waist time so off I went on the run.


And it started on the grass of course... (got to love the gel packet hanging out of my shorts)
I started off easy just get my leg under me and see how things would play out. I actually felt pretty good, a little bit of a sloshy stomach but nothing the heat would not burn off (or so I hoped).
They changed the run course so having done the race the last 2 years did not help out a ton.. I knew the parts of the course that were on the road but the other 6 miles were a mystery on grass. By mile 2 or so my stomach started to settle and I focused on keeping my temp down. I walked the aid stations and made sure to drink gatorade, toss cold water on my head, grab ice, sponges, and if they had them orange slices (mmmm).
I kept going back and forth with one gal, we would pass each other then be walking the aid station - so started talking.. We wound up running and chatting and just kept running together. It was great - made the run fly by even though the course was so difficult. I was not even paying attention to time, we just ran between each aid station, got what we needed and kept running. Only once or twice we walked up a hill or something. It was funny it was not till after running together for a couple miles we asked our names. lol And in no time we were heading down into the long out and back into the lava (mile 9ish). As always this sucked and seemed longer than in years past but we ran down and were able to run all the way back out. I passed Laurie from Pauole Sport at some point on the way back up (she seemed to expect it was going to happen) and we cheered each other one. Once at the top we started picking up the pace as much as we could knowing that we would be done sooner that way.
It was great to see T2 and the turn to the finish line. I still felt pretty good but mostly was just ready to be done.. As we turned toward the finish Joy (#1242 in the pic) wanted to kick it in strong and in that she out kicked me and beat me by a couple seconds lol.



And just like that it was over - I was done..


Overall finisher 637/1057
Age group finish 24/44
Overall time 06:27:55
Swim 41:10
T1 3:32
Bike 3:24:45
T2 2:39
Run 2:15:50


A few post race photos as well



Love the sponge still in the back of my top.

Yeah I am sooo strong

James and I

Mom and I

Best of all the ice bath (Kyle finally pulled the sponge out of my jersey)