2012: A Running Odyssey January 4, 2012
Posted by bettyjoan in Races, Running.Tags: Goals, Races, Running
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Even though I feel like 2012 is going to be a momentous year in terms of my running, I don’t actually have that much on the calendar. So far, the only definite registrations are the Rock & Roll USA Half Marathon (March 17 in DC) and, of course, the Rock & Roll Madrid Marathon (April 22 in SPAIN!!!!!).
The “maybes” at this point include the Bike MS (September at Callaway Gardens) and the Tennessee Ragnar Relay (November, I believe). I say maybe in quotation marks because I’m pretty sure these events are going on the calendar, but the actual registrations haven’t been done. Although, I seem to remember signing up for the Bike MS at last year’s event – they were doing some deal where you could sign up for a quarter, and who’s going to say no to that?
The REAL maybes are all of the shorter races I feel like I want to do. Of course, I will try for a Peachtree number, but what else can I add to the calendar?
Option #1: ATC Heart and Soles 5K, February 11. My track coach recommended this race, and I think our whole “Misery Loves Company” group is encouraged to sign up. However, it is hard for me to race on Saturdays due to TNT group training sessions, and I’m not a huge fan of the ATC. That, and hubby probably won’t want to sign up because there is no tee shirt and no medal. 
Option #2: Charles Harris 10K, February 25. I’ve wanted to run this race for a while, and I think it will be a good tune-up for the March 17th half marathon. I think I’ll probably bit the bullet and sign up for this one to get it on the calendar.
Option #3: Chattahoochee Road Runners 5K/10K, March 3. This would probably only go on the calendar if Charles Harris doesn’t work out – but, even if I do the 10K on February 25th, maybe the 5K would still be a good idea as far as seeing how the speed work is paying off.
Does anyone have any other suggestions? Or, even better, do you have any feedback on these races?
2011: A Run-Through January 1, 2012
Posted by bettyjoan in Uncategorized.Tags: Good times, Reflection
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I know I probably should have written this “year in review” BEFORE the clock turned over to 2012, but I still think it’s worthwhile to look back and see what this past year has held in terms of my athletic pursuits.
At the beginning of 2011, I was preparing to run the Publix Half Marathon here in Atlanta, and it was to be my first big race since Chicago AND my first 13.1 with my husband (he’d never done a half before, and after watching me run Chicago, he decided it was time to get on the bandwagon). Unfortunately, I broke my ankle in early March and had to watch from the sidelines as hubby completed his first half marathon. Truthfully, I’m really grateful to have gotten that experience – it was so amazing to see him and cheer him on at different points on the course.
Once I was healed, we did a couple of smaller races together – the Floppin’ Flounder 5K (PR) and the infamous Peachtree Road Race 10K (PR). Talk about two totally opposite races! The 5K was a small race in Charleston (we were there for a wedding), and the Peachtree…well, everyone knows what a shitshow THAT is. Both were beastly hot, so they had that in common.
The first race hubby and I ran together ended up being the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon, which was an absolute blast. Not only did we PR, but we enjoyed gorgeous scenery (seriously, the race felt like it went by in a snap because the surroundings were so lovely) AND a post-race wine tasting festival. The fact that the race was an excuse to hang out with my sis who lives in San Francisco was an extra special bonus.
In August, I decided to jump back into the tri world, and a girlfriend and I competed in the Tri to Beat Cancer in Athens, Georgia. Considering how limited my swimming and cycling had been, the race went pretty well – and I was rewarded with a photo op with the great Vince Dooley! I will always have a special place in my heart for triathlon, because it’s really how I got started with endurance events in the first place, but I think I’ll be focusing on running for a while – it’s just so much simpler than having to remember all that gear!
September was a big month, with the Bike MS at Callaway Gardens (more of a social event than a race, but it got me back on my bike at least) and a first for hubby and me – a 5K and a 10K in the same day, with PRs for both! The courses were very tough, but it was a fun challenge and one that I’m glad we got to do together.
The last race of the year was the Savannah Rock & Roll Half Marathon. Even though we PR’d, it was probably my toughest race of the year. BUT, it was an incredibly fun race weekend, since we ended up renting a beach house with friends and having a terrific time.
So, that adds up to 2 half marathons, 2 5Ks, 2 10Ks, a sprint triathlon, a bike race, and a broken ankle. I’d say it was an eventful year!
What does 2012 have in store? Stay tuned to find out!
Ants in the pantalones December 27, 2011
Posted by bettyjoan in Races, Running.Tags: Madrid Marathon, Training challenges, Travel
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I have been feeling really antsy about this whole Madrid trip, and the other day I was trying to put my finger on why. After all, even though I’m certainly not a marathon expert, I have done 26.2 before, so I don’t think it’s the distance that has my knickers in a twist. The travel component isn’t new either, as I’ve done races as far away as California. Is it the international aspect? It has certainly been a while (over 10 years, yikes) since I crossed the proverbial pond, but aside from some extra airport security, foreign travel has gotten easier rather than harder, thanks to online booking and internet travel guides and whatnot.
Finally, I honed in on a disconnect – I’m sitting here, in December, shopping airfares to Spain (which SUCK, by the way) and buying travel books and investigating my leave balances at work. And what do my “long” runs look like? 3-5 miles, tops. My running plans don’t match up with my travel plans, and that is causing my brain some serious confusion. Ack!
The good news is that after the New Year, the days AND our runs will start to get longer, and I’ll start feeling like I’m actually preparing for a marathon.
The bad news?
I wanna go to Spain NOOOOOOOOW!
Insert clever foot cliche here November 18, 2011
Posted by bettyjoan in Running.Tags: Injuries, Running
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We had our first group training session for our Madrid marathon team last weekend, and the energy was great. We are a small team, but I have no doubt that we will be mighty! We also have a handful of “flex” team members who will be running the Vancouver Marathon shortly after Madrid (so they are basically following our same training schedule), so I hung back a bit and made sure they all had company for our 3-miler.
Then came the pain.
For the remainder of the day, I had some nagging soreness in the arch area of my foot. I figured it was a stretching issue and it would work itself out. It didn’t get any better over the next few days, but it didn’t really get any worse. Or, so I thought.
I went to the track for my Tuesday night speed work, and the Coach told us to warm up, do a few strides, and then do 3 miles at 80%, an easy 400 jog, and then 1 mile at 85%. I was looking forward to the tough workout, since I had been out of town for so long. I got through the warmup and the strides, but before I could even finish half of the 3-mile interval, my foot was hurting so badly that I had to stop. Coach told me to go home and ice, but I went ahead and made an appointment with my foot and ankle doctor the very next day. Better safe than sorry.
Thankfully, the x-rays came back clear. Not so thankfully, the doc thinks I’m straining my arch to the point where I’m showing signs of plantar fasciitis. Boo. The treatment? Well, he gave me some little foam pads for extra support (to hopefully avoid the need for full-on orthotics), and he told me to go back to a more structured shoe. Boo! I was really loving the lighter trainer that I’ve been running in since August. Doctor knows best, though, so I went to Big Peach and bought one UGLY pair of shoes – kicking and screaming, of course. Seriously, is it too much to ask for some girly colors? I swear, all of these shoe companies would make a mint with TNT folks if they would make every shoe come in a purple option.
So, I am looking forward to strapping on those massive clodhoppers and getting 3-4 miles in tomorrow, hopefully with less pain and irritation. Once I feel healed, I’m told that I can go back to my lighter trainers for my Tuesday nights at the track. And I’m determined to scour the interwebs for a prettier version of the Asics 2170…
Savannah Rock & Roll 1/2 Marathon race report November 6, 2011
Posted by bettyjoan in Races, Running.Tags: Half marathon, PR, Races, Running, Savannah Rock & Roll
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Well, another half is in the books – the Savannah Rock & Roll 1/2 Marathon will be my last significant race of 2011, and let me just say, I felt every mile of it. Here’s how it went down…
Hubby and I were lucky enough to take Friday off, so we left early and got to Savannah around lunchtime. That meant the Expo wasn’t as crowded, which was nice – though it was still a little nutty for my liking (I’m getting to be pretty crabby about expos, since they all look about the same after enough races – I just want to pick up my packet and GO). Unfortunately, it seemed like those folks who got into town a little later got stuck in MAJOR traffic, since the convention center is on an island that is only accessible by one bridge/road. They had to keep the Expo open later than anticipated because so many people would have missed it entirely otherwise. Frankly, I don’t understand why they scheduled the race for a Saturday – if they did it on Sunday, you could have the expo open all day on Saturday and the traffic would be much more evenly spread. Whatev.
After a lovely home-cooked pasta dinner at our Tybee rental house, we hit the sack, and before we knew it, it was oh dark thirty on Saturday morning and it was time to head out to the shuttles that would take us to the start line. There were supposed to be 2 pickup locations on Tybee Island, with two pickup times each (5:30 and 6 AM). We got to our pickup location at quarter of six, but there weren’t enough buses and we ended up standing outside (in 40 degrees and 20 mph winds) until almost 7 AM when they finally sent another bus to get us. It was an absolute clusterfuck. We barely made it to the race in time to hit the port-a-potties and get to the corrals – so I was super tight and tense from being in the cold, and I didn’t have time to do my usual stretching routine. I was VERY stressed, and I started the race more nervous than I’ve been in a long time.
I was pleasantly surprised with the course support. Even though the race took us through the less fortunate parts of Savannah, all of the residents were out cheering and welcoming us to their city. I was feeling really good until about mile 5, when my left knee started to act up. Thankfully, the course was flat and the weather was nice once the sun came up, so I was able to focus my energy elsewhere and push past the pain for a while. Right around mile 10, when I stopped and walked in order to drink some water, I realized that my knees were in real trouble. I told my husband that I couldn’t stop to walk anymore, as I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to start running again. Bottom line, I dug deep and cranked out the last three excruciating miles (while making some troubled grunting noises, I’m told), and we finished in 2:18:48. A PR by nearly 9 minutes, woo hoo!
The medal is great, but the shuttles BACK to Tybee were just as big of a mess as the ones in the morning. I hope the Rock & Roll group works out the transportation kinks before next year’s race, as I think it was a pretty significant black mark on an otherwise well-organized event.
As for my performance, I’m pretty sure that the cold, the lack of stretching, and my lackluster taper (brought on largely by work travel) caused some painful IT band issues – but, I’m pretty sure that after I rest and recover, I’ll be back to normal and ready to start the next training cycle. I’m excited that I was able to PR, even with some less-than-ideal circumstances, as it proves that my base level of fitness and running ability is MUCH better than it was even a year ago.
Next up: Madrid training officially begins next weekend!
Viva Madrid! September 27, 2011
Posted by bettyjoan in Mentoring, Running.Tags: Marathon, Mentoring, TNT is awesome
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It is official – Jason and I are signed up for the Maraton de Madrid (which will be the Rock & Roll group’s first international race)!!! As an added bonus, I was selected to be a mentor for the Team. Yippee!
The race is on April 22, 2012, and I think we are going to try to turn it into about a two-week vacation. So, not only do we have to fundraise (more on that in a minute), but we also need to save some personal funds to extend our stay and really make the most of the trip.
Here’s our fundraising website: http://pages.teamintraining.org/ga/madrid12/therhoadeslesstraveled
We have set a $10,000 goal for ourselves – eek! It’s more than we are required to raise, but that big round number has a really nice ring to it, don’t you think? We have some good ideas for fundraising events, so definitely check back here AND at the website above to keep up with our shenanigans.
Of course, we still have the Savannah Rock & Roll Half Marathon in about a month, so the hard-core marathon training won’t really start till after that. It’s just so exciting to be back with TNT, especially for such a large-scale, kick-ass race. I cannot wait to get back to Spain!
Anyone want to join us? 
Two-fer September 12, 2011
Posted by bettyjoan in Races, Running.Tags: 10K, 5K, PR, Races, Running
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So, the training schedule this past weekend called for a 10K race. Truthfully, I hadn’t given it much thought, and I figured we’d probably just get the mileage in without actually racing. However, when I saw that there was a Suwanee Day 5K/10K on Saturday, I decided that we should sign up and give it a go. When I suggested doing both the 5K and the 10K, husband shot me one of his patented “You must be taking crazy pills again” dirty looks. But then I reminded him that 1) the training schedule called for a 1 mile warmup AND a 1 mile cooldown in addition to the 10K itself, so really, adding the 5K was only netting us one extra mile; and 2) it would be pretty cool if we could PR in two races in one morning. Rationale #2 definitely piqued his interest.
The 5K was up first, and it started at 8 AM. The weather was gorgeous – cool and dry. The race was largely uneventful, with the exception of the most massive hill EVER somewhere in the second mile. This thing was 15-20% grade, for real. Ouch! We ran the whole thing, though, despite the pain in our glutes and the significant elevation in our heart rates. And even with the hillier terrain, we shaved about 30 seconds off our Floppin’ Flounder time and set PRs with a 31:18 finish. Miles 1 and 3 were sub-10, woo hoo!
After a banana and a bathroom visit, it was time to line up for the 10K. About 20 minutes elapsed between the end of the 5K and the beginning of the 10K, so the legs felt a little heavy at the beginning of the second race, but since the first mile or so was downhill, things felt better relatively quickly. The hardest part of the 10K was right around the halfway point. It was an out-and-back course on the Suwanee Greenway, so we knew we would be turning around right after the 3-mile marker, but what we didn’t know was that the turnaround was at the top of a pretty significant incline. It took me a little while to recover from the climb, and there were a few moments where I regretted my decision to do both races, but thankfully, what goes up must come down! Despite the fact that the last half-mile of the race was pure uphill, we crossed the finish line in 1:07:21, which was a good three minutes faster than our Peachtree time back in July. Hooray! Also, as I was analyzing the data from the Garmin later in the day, I was proud of how consistently we kept our pace throughout both races.
So, now we can cross “run two races in one day” off our running to-do list. Have you ever doubled up on races? How did it turn out for you?
TRI to Beat Cancer race report September 2, 2011
Posted by bettyjoan in Races.Tags: Races
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Even though I’ve gravitated more toward the “runner” side of the spectrum lately (as opposed to the “triathlete” side), I still consider myself a multisport athlete. When my girlfriend suggested back in the spring that we sign up for a sprint tri to give us a reason to swim and cycle, I thought it was a great idea. We registered for the TRI to Beat Cancer in Athens on August 21, and that was that.
Fast forward to late July/early August. I realized that I hadn’t been on my bike in about a year. Same story for open-water swimming. I started to freak out. My girlfriend and I went out and did 20 miles on our bikes, but that was about all we could cram in, what with our half marathon training. So, we drove up to Athens on the Saturday before the race, not knowing exactly how this fantastic plan of ours was going to work out.
The race was small, so the “Expo” was nothing to write home about. We picked up our packets, checked into our hotel, had a delicious, carby dinner, and went to bed early. So far, so good.
When the alarm went off at about 4:30 AM on Sunday, my friend looked at me and said, pretty much verbatim, “I fucking hate this sport.” Indeed, after nothing but running for the better part of a year, the process of gearing up (literally) for a tri is quite overwhelming. There is so much to remember – swim cap, goggles, helmet, gloves, water bottles, nutrition, bike shoes, running shoes, race numbers, sunglasses, transition mat, ad infinitum. Thankfully, I managed to only forget my flip flops – not ideal, but certainly not an insurmountable omission. We packed up and headed to Sandy Creek Park to set things up in transition. I got an end spot on the rack (ALWAYS a good omen, in my book), went to the bathroom about 100 times, and then headed down to the beach.
Before I knew it, my age group was off and swimming. I was surprised at how well I handled things, considering I hadn’t been in open water in a long time. I just tried to get out of the initial throngs without being kicked in the face, and then I was able to get into a groove and keep my breathing regulated. It was only a 400 meter swim, but I was happy to finish in 11:39. There was a big incline back up to transition (hate it when that happens), but I was off and cycling in 3:30.
Ah, the bike. My nemesis. The Dr. Evil to my Austin Powers. I was nervous, of course, but I tried to start easy to let my heart rate recover from the swim and transition. The course was mostly rolling hills, so I was pretty comfortable, given all of the climbing. There was only one big downhill, during which I put a death grip on the brakes (as expected), but overall it was a strong ride. It was 14 miles total, and I finished in 58:16 – not too shabby, considering my lackluster training. I took 2:10 in the second transition, and then I was off on the run. Well, after a stop at the porta-potty (I had to pee for the ENTIRE time I was on the bike), I was off on the run.
Here I was thinking that I was in my comfort zone, and that I would speed toward the finish line in a blaze of glory. Well, I had forgotten how hard it is to run after swimming and cycling – my legs were like bricks! AND, for the record, whoever claimed that the run course was “flat and fast” was full of it – oh, the hills! My friend caught up with me, though, so we ended up running together and enjoying our last leg of the race. Even though 34:44 is by no means my fastest 5K, it got me to the finish line with a total time of 1:50:16, so I was incredibly proud of myself. My 2011 tri season was over on the same day it began – woo hoo!
The race itself was well-organized, and I would definitely do it again and/or recommend it to others.
The best part? Right here, baby. Go Dawgs!
“Wine”-ding down August 5, 2011
Posted by bettyjoan in Races, Running.Tags: 10K, Half marathon, Races, Running
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The past two weeks have been virtually exercise-free. Other than a dog walk here and there, I’ve enjoyed a nice, long break. And I earned it, gosh darnit, after two races in July!
First up was the Peachtree Road Race, on July 4. There were certainly ups and downs to our race experience – on the plus side, an administrative glitch meant that I was erroneously assigned to the top-seeded womens’ corral, which basically gave me carte blanche to start wherever I darn well pleased (and to use the special no-line porta-potties near the front, haha). Also, a bunch of our friends were racing, so we had a fun sleepover the night before. On the other hand, the expo was a NIGHTMARE (just way too crowded), and it was brutally hot and humid, even in the early morning. It was hubby’s first PRR, and I was really hoping he’d love it, but I think the miserable weather combined with the tough course made him wonder why it’s such a beloved Atlanta tradition. Bottom line, it was far from my best race, but I did manage to shave some time off last year’s time and turn in a 10K PR.
Two weeks after Peachtree, we headed out west for the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon – our first half marathon together, since I was unable to run Publix in March. Let me just say – I would absolutely, positively, no questions asked, recommend this race to ANYONE. It wasn’t perfect – the expo was teeny tiny, and due to the nature of the course, there wasn’t a whole lot of crowd support – BUT, it was definitely my best half marathon to date. The weather was perfect (dry, mid-50s to mid-60s), the scenery was ridiculously gorgeous, and the volunteers and staff were awesome. Oh, and did I mention that we got medals AND commemorative wine glasses, AND that there was a mini-wine tasting at mile 10 (hilarious), AND that there was a free wine festival (with lots more tastings) at the finish line????? We had an absolute blast. The PR (2:27:07, a good 15 minutes faster than my fastest half marathon) was a nice bonus, too.
Training resumes again tomorrow, this time for the Savannah Rock & Roll Half Marathon in early November. For Publix and Napa, we just used the Hal Higdon beginner training plan, mostly because hubby was still in the early running phase where he wasn’t confident that he could complete the distance. Now that he has two half marathons under his belt (and I have three halfs and a full under mine), we are going to step things up and try to run better and faster. We got an intermediate plan from a friend, and it includes some speed/track work. My biggest fear/question at this point is how in the heck we are going to do those workouts when it is so. Damn. HOT. I don’t want to rely on the treadmill (for MANY reasons), but the weather makes it really difficult.
How do YOU get your training in during the dog days of summer?
Reluctantly crouched at the starting line June 9, 2011
Posted by bettyjoan in Races, Running.Tags: 5K, PR, Races, Running
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Okay, maybe I wasn’t reluctant (who can resist quoting Cake???), but I did make my way to the starting line this past weekend. While we were in Charleston, SC, for a wedding, Jason and I decided to do a 5K – and actually, I realized that it was my first race since December. Crazy! Anywho, the 5K marked the end of Week 6 of half marathon training (we are once again following the Hal Higdon novice schedule), so it was a great opportunity to gauge progress.
The race was called the Floppin’ Flounder 5K, which I thought was adorable, and it was celebrating its 20th year. It wasn’t a huge event or anything, but it was nicely put together – plenty of parking, friendly volunteers, available bathrooms, and cute (albeit cotton) tee-shirts. The “starting line” was just a couple of cones and a guy with a megaphone, which was a little odd considering that they went to the trouble of offering chip timing.
I had a bad feeling at the start of the race, because even though we started toward the middle of the pack, as soon as the whistle blew, TONS of people just flew right past us. I was really discouraged, especially since I was pacing at about a 10-minute mile at that point (maybe even a bit faster). Jason reminded me not to start out too fast, though, and I tried to settle into a groove. The course, which was a figure-eight around Sullivan’s Island, was flat as a pancake – thank goodness, because it was ridiculously hot, even at 8 AM.
Gradually, as we kept our pace consistent and others…well, didn’t…we started to pass people who had passed us at the beginning of the race. Suckas! The last mile or so was REALLY tough, since it was on blacktop and the sun was brutally beating down on our backs, but we dug deep and kept going, and we wound up crossing the finish line together in 31:49. PRs for both of us, woo hoo!
Overall, I felt really good about the race. Hopefully, I will continue to train smart and strong, and I’ll be ready for both a 10K PR and a half marathon PR in July!
I signed up for a few more races in late summer/fall as well – but more on that in another post!
