Wow...so many updates! I cannot believe the month of June has flown by. So much has been going on in the last month, so I'm just going to do a short update on everything and hopefully get back in the groove of more frequent posts!
First up - Duathlon Age Group Nationals!
After running the Nike 1/2 marathon in DC, I
had been contemplating whether to sign up for the Nike Women's 1/2 marathon in
SF on October or to travel down to San Diego to race a triathlon, since they
were the same weekend. I knew that I'd have to make a decision quickly
since the 1/2 marathon is a lottery and entry closed in early June.
Well, on May 29, I received this email:
Decision made!!! Now, I know that you don't
actually have to qualify for the Duathlon AG Nationals, but the race falls at a
perfect time, I'll be able to visit family on the way to the race, visit Arizona,
and challenge myself against some strong competitors. Plus, in my dream world I would be a professional athlete...this is about as close as I'll get, and I like the ring that "national championships" has ;)
Next Up - I have wanted to build a planter
box and grow my own veggies for some time. Last summer my dad planted
tomatoes for us, which I promptly killed. This year I was resolved to do
better and turn my black thumb into a green thumb. My dad and I built a
planter box and planted zucchini, bell peppers, eggplants and basil back in May.
Sadly, in the first round, it was doggies -1, planter box - 0. Well, the
zucchini survived and is actually thriving, but everything else had to be
re-planted because the pups thought the plants were new toys for them!
This time we put of a fence, so fingers crossed that my garden will flourish
this time around!
Then I was off to DC for one of my friends
weddings! Amazing trip with my favorite girls, beautiful wedding, and
some squeezed in training. I had grand plans for my training schedule
which were sadly thrown off track by the spray tanning requirements for the
bridesmaids - yikes!! No chlorine for me until after the wedding! I
was still able to get in some great runs - including a 90 minute hill workout
on the hotel treadmill. Definitely not my favorite, but necessary under
the circumstances.
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| The beautiful Pink Trail in Reston, VA - NOT the treadmill. |
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| My favorite ladies at the wedding reception! |
After I got back, training was back on
schedule including Tuesday
track workouts and my favorite Wednesday night bike ride. And I was right back
into racing - with the San Francisco Marathon. The awesome
thing about the SF Marathon is that they offer 2 half marathons, one starting
with the full marathoners, running along the bay, along Chrissy Field, over the
Golden Gate Bridge, and ending in Golden Gate Park. This is the
ridiculously hilly portion of the course and according to my Garmin, has about
1100 feet of elevation gain. The second half starts in the park,
traverses east through the city, through Haight-Ashbury, past AT&T park,
and ends at the Ferry Building with the full marathoners.
Last year I ran the 2nd half, so
this year I ran the first half, basically so I could get the extra special
medal for completing the “Half it All Challenge” by completing both half marathons in
consecutive years. I knew that a PR wouldn’t be happening because of all
the hills, but I was determined to beat my time from last year on the
flatter course. Mission accomplished, even with a 2 minute port-a-pottie
break at mile 3 because I was running late and barely squeaked into my corral
before it was closed! The weather was perfect, the views were beautiful,
and I was reminded of how much I love the city by the bay! It was so nice to be back.
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| Mile 8 - Couldn't resist snapping a pic! |
After finishing in Golden Gate Park, I got my awesome spinning “Half it All
Challenge” Medal, and saw by big sis from my sorority days who was working the
medical tent. Official time: 1:47:13, 29/1088 in my age group.
Last, but DEFINITELY not least, update. In January, good ol’ FNS had a vision board
party – basically you create a collage of your goals for the year. Since I had determined that 2013 would be the
year of the triathlon, my board was entirely tri related, with qualifying for the USA
Triathlon Age Group National Championships being my number one goal. Thanks to Erin for the inspiration!
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| Top: Vision Board, Bottom: Qualification Email! |
Well, I am proud to say that I accomplished
that goal and will be making the trek to Milwaukee with the pops to race on
August 10th. Special thanks
to FNS and the amazing Brian Nunez for the inspiration to set goals and to help
me realize them!
Up next will be my race report from the
California International Triathlon from this past weekend...lots of growing pains. Stay tuned!
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