2010 Season Wrap - Up (Very old news)

Life is so busy!! This is so late I don't know where to begin. I guess I'll start by suming up the end of my season.

Aug 28/29: The weekend after my disapointing race at Timberman 70.3 was the Cranberry Sprint and the Cranberry Olympic. I really wasn't sure how It would go, being one week after my first 70.3 and then doing a sprint and olympic back to back.
I knew I would finish but I didn't know how fast I would be. The sprint went surprising well and as soon as I crossed the finish line I signed up for the Olympic for a chance to win "Queen of Cranberry" (lowest combined time of both races). The next day I felt stronger than ever and had a PR Olympic run time and was able to take home the "Crown".
Great weekend....local race with lots of family and friends....... Soooo fun!

Sept 5th: The next weekend I raced the Mayflower Sprint. The race was postponed one day due to large swells from an off shore hurricane. Again, I had a great race feeling stronger than the previous week and took 1st female overall. With almost six weeks of tapering I would have thought my "Peak" should have been winding down but I felt as if it was just beginning.

Sept 12th: Do I have it in me to do one more 70.3? I was feeling strong physically. Mentally though, I wasn't sure I could do it. Could I really do another half iron? I hadn't planned it and I hadn't run long in weeks or even rode longer than an hour. My head was saying..."You've lost so much fitness". Can I even run 13.1 miles? But a little voice was was nagging me. All that training for what? .... A dissapointing race that I'm not happy about. No....no way. I decided to do Firmman 1/2 IM in Narragansett.
I drove all the way down the day before to sign-up (3 hours roundtrip). I got there...and missed the sign-up! They said just get here at 5 am and you can sign-up then. Oh.... sure I'll get up at 3 am. No problem!
The next morning when that alarm went off....I said f that I'm not going! Then that little nagging voice.... your season will not feel complete. You will never forgive yourself. Get your ass up! So I dragged myself out of bed and headed out.
I decided that the race didn't really matter. I didn't know anybody at the race. No one I knew was watching and no one I knew was participating. I felt no pressure. No one really even knew I was doing it.
I didn't have much of a race plan other than to go faster than my previous half and hoped the experience I gained there would guide me. I decided to go off feel and not be a slave to the power meter. If I blow up after the bike then so be it. I'll walk the run. I practically had to walk the last run anyway. I rode the bike exactly how I felt I should ride it. I didn't care what the watts said. I occasioanlly glanced at it but didn't back off much. I passed several girls on the bike but really had no idea what my place was. I got off the bike and was pleased with my time as it was several minutes faster than previous. The spectators told me a was in 3rd place and 2nd place was just a few minutes ahead. 3rd place... wow. Will I hold it together for the run? Did I ride too hard? I'll soon find out. I put 8 oz of pickle juice in my pocket (per my coach's advice) and off I went.
One mile into the run....cramps all over!! Ok...time to try the pickle juice. Will it make me sick? A few sips.... nothing!! This crap doesn't work. Fast foward 20 seconds... wait no more cramps!! Wow!! Ok maybe David isn't so crazy. About 7 miles into the run I can start to make out a girl in front of me. Is there time to catch her? Slowly and I mean ever soooo slowly she starts to get closer and closer. At mile 11 and after several bouts of cramps and pickle juice ingestion I catch her. We run neck and neck up the last hill and then I was able to pull away for a 2nd place finish.
I crossed the finish line in 4:54 (23 min faster than Timberman). I was thrilled!! My season was now complete and I was so happy!

Next Post: My "Off Season"