Wrapping up the 2013 Triathlon & Running Season - a look back on my Results

2013 has been an incredible journey for me as an athlete and person. I started off the year with a couple of goals: to stay injury free and to improve my performance. I was able to do both. Despite some ups and downs it has been a great season. I know there are specific things I could have done more or less of to improve even more but as a self-coached athlete this season I am really happy that I was able to perform at the level I did. With just one more trail 5 mile race to go this season, things are winding down. I thought it would be a good time to do a look back on my results.

This season I have done 15 races ranging from trail 5/10K's to a full marathon to a number of triathlons ranging from sprint to 70.3. I am fortunate enough to have been on the podium 10 x this season... 8 of those in the top 10 overall females. I finally won my first 1st place finish at my last race as well as 4 x top 3 finishes (all running races) and a handful of AG awards.

2013 Race Performances:

Feb - Dirty Love Trail 10K - 8th overall female, 1st in 30-39AG

March - St Malachi 5 Miler - 33rd overall, 9th of 252 in 30-34AG

April - On My Own Two Feet Half Marathon - 3rd overall female

May - Rev3 Knoxville Olympic Tri - DNF :(

May - Cleveland Full Marathon - (new PR - 4:09 for my 2nd full marathon), 39/144 (ouch)

June - Lake Health Half Marathon - (more of a training run than a race), 9th in AG

June - Rev3 Williamsburg Olympic Tri - 9/34 in AG

July - Milton Man Olympic Tri - (New Olympic PR 2:44)  11th overall, 2nd in 30-34AG

July - Fairport Harbor Sprint Tri - 10th overall, 3rd in 30-34AG

Sept- Rev3 Cedar Point 70.3 - (New PR 5:52) -  9/42 in 35-39AG

Sept - Believe & Achieve Trail 5K - 3rd overall female

October - Lake Health Half Marathon - 13th overall, 2nd in 35-39AG

October - Quick & Dirty 8K Trail Race - 3rd overall female

Nov - Autumn Leaves 5 Miler (offroad) - 10th overall female, 2nd in 35-39AG

Nov - Twinsburg Turkey Trot 5 Miler - 1st overall female!

Dec - Ohio Outside Race # 3 Trail - 3rd overall female

I will end with some things that I have either learned or confirmed this season:

• My run is my strongest of the three sports 
• My bike is steady and I gained a little fitness here this year but not as much as I had hoped. Still some work to do here and hoping the new Quintana Roo bike helps too!
• My swim is still my key limiter in triathlon. I have no excuses. Lots of work needed here. Once I address this weakness I will be more competitive in triathlon. 
• My competitiveness as a runner decreases in any race longer than a half marathon. Probably because I am still a newbie at LONG running with only 2 marathons under my belt. 
• Off season strength work is important.
• Yoga/Core are very important to staying strong and healthy year round.
• Being sick for a couple of months made me realize that I am stronger physically and mentally than I thought I was. I think this is true for most people. 
• Being on a team with wonderful people makes it easier to improve as well as to accept when you don't have a good performance. I am very lucky to be a member of Team Rev3 and Powerbar Team Elite!

Excited to ride this new QR bike for my 2014 season!

A special thank you to all of the Rev3 team sponsors for helping me be my best this season: Powerbar, Biotta, SBR Sports, Pearl Izumi, Normatec Recovery, Compex, Blueseventy and Quintana Roo!

Stay tuned for the last race report of the year in a few weeks as well as my 2014 season plans! 

2013 Cleveland Marathon Race Report - Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!

I'm a little late with this post but better late than never! So as I revisit the Cleveland Marathon race day in my mind I have good memories. It was a fun race - very well organized and a great turnout. The weather was perfect for the first hour or so and then it definitely heated up!

Prerace:

Steve and I were up at 5 to get ready. Our plan was to be on the road by 5:45 to get downtown to park by 6:15. We feasted on some waffles and peanut butter with honey and watermelon along with some coconut water. Once we parked it was time to chug some Biotta beet juice for the extra endurance boost! We parked about 1/2 mile from the race and used the time to get a warm up in. As usual I needed to use the restroom before the start. So we made our way to the stadium to use the facilities and lined up together around 6:50 for the start at 7. I love this race because you can always just feel the energy bubbling as people sing along to that song "Cleveland Rocks" from the Drew Carey show!

Start & First Half:

The start was fast and fun. Steve wanted to run the first mile or so together, which put me a little ahead of my planned 8:30-9 min pace but it was nice being close to him for a little bit. After that he took off and I settled into my groove. There was a good vibe as we ran through the city. My pace was pretty much on target and I felt very good through the first half. Around mile 7 or 8 it got as little warm so I tossed my singlet and ran in the sports bra. Needless to say I did have some fun tanlines after the race! I liked the course all except that we literally ran with the halfers almost to the 13 so it was a bit tough mentally as they were turning left to run their last 1/2 mile or something and we were turning right to start the second half. My half time was 1:55ish with my plan being to finish a tad under 4 hours.

The Back Half:

Running with my friend Andy towards the finish!

The back half started off pretty well. It was getting hotter but was tolerable. I made friends with a guy named Andy and ran about 7 miles with him before I faded a little. Right before MLK I started to cramp a little. I remember glancing at my watch around mile 19.5 so I stopped to do a Powerbar double latte gel and get a sip of water. This kicked in shortly and I was back on track. The breeze running through the park was welcome. I really tried not to stop and walk. I did pretty well until mile 22 or 23 and then I really felt hot and fatigued. From there on it was really a run/walk. I didn't want to push past my limit as there were plenty of people getting medical attention from heat exhaustion. I made sure to take a sip of water at every stop since I knew it would be a hot race. It felt like the last mile would take forever and I caught up to my friend Andy so we were able to push each other a little at the end.

The Finish:

Happy to finish!

Crossing the finish line of my second full marathon was a great feeling even though it was a little slower than I wanted. My time of 4:09 was still better than my first marathon despite the heat. I was very happy and proud to have raised over $1000 for my friend Liz Ferro's nonprofit Girls With Sole by running this race. Knowing that my sweat and pain would help these young girls really helped me push through some hard times.

Post race with my love!

My friend Mickey Rizmek from Northcoast Multisport was there and gave me a hug and Steve cheered me on as I finished. We also ran into our friends Amy and Chris who had run the half. I was tired and ready for some post race food and beverages! After downing a chocolate milk and some snacks we headed to the car to get changed and headed over to the Winking Lizard for pizza and a tall IPA to wait for my longtime friend Jill Earle as she finished her first marathon. We met up with Jill and her friends at Flannery's for another beer and then headed to home sweet home for some well earned rest and some Normatec and Compex recovery!

Post race with Jilly!

I am looking forward to running my third marathon in the fall and hopefully it will be a little cooler and I'll get that sub 4 hour PR!