Northern Ohio Team in Training Team Takes on the Greater Cleveland Triathlon

GCT Team in Training Team and Me on the end

One of the best things that happened to me this year was having the opportunity to coach a team for Northern Ohio Team in Training. A special thanks to my Rev3 teammate Heather Oravec for the suggestion. This amazing group that I've had the joy of coaching has renewed my love for triathlon. Week after week they showed up on Friday nights to swim at the Twinsburg Rec. Then for the last month as weather would allow they drove to Mentor Headlands on weekends to practice the Greater Cleveland Triathlon course. These folks didn't sign up to win the race. They signed up to make a difference in the lives of people suffering from cancer. Triathlon (or duathlon for some of the team members) was simply the means to make that difference. And the staff at Northern Ohio Team in Training are amazing too...probably the most caring people you'd ever meet.

This weekend it was time for this group to race. All these months of training had led up to that one moment when they would swim, bike and run (or run, bike, run) to the finish line of either a sprint or olympic distance race. For many on the team it would be only their first or second multisport event. Imagine if you will the excitement (both good and bad) that comes with such a task.

Mariah, Kelly, Ellen, Rebecca and I after the dinner

Saturday we planned to have a group open water swim at Mentor Headlands but we ended up having a storm with heavy rains and as a result I cancelled the swim practice. Team in Training hosted a lovely inspiration dinner for the team. Their speaker for the evening had been diagnosed with Mantel Cell Lymphoma and he shared his story with us. We also had an honored guest who had been diagnosed with childhood leukemia. So many stories of people just like you and me who had been diagnosed with blood cancer. At the dinner I got to say a few words to the athletes and their families. What I mostly wanted to say to them was thank you. Thank you for caring about and helping the patients and their families for reminding me what's important in life. After the dinner Steve and I had a chance to hangout with the team and enjoy a drink before heading back home.

Kelly & Mariah prerace

Sunday morning we were up at 5 to eat a quick breakfast and I needed to be at Mentor Headlands around 6am to meet the team. From 6-7 we gathered at the Team in Training tent and shared some laughs and advice. Mickey (the race director) started the athlete meeting at 7:15. Following the meeting it was time for the triathletes and the swimmers from our two relay teams to walk down the beach to the swim start. Even though I know some of the team were anxious there was a good vibe. They were ready!

Kelly and Rebecca before the swim

The olympic athletes would start first so I headed down the beach to see off Kelly, Rebecca and Ellen. They were able to get in the water for a few minutes to warm up and get used to it and then they were off. I shouted goodluck as each of them ran in to start their first leg of the race and then headed down the beach toward the sprint start watching over the swimmers to make sure all looked well.

Anita, Mariah, Jess and some other folks doing the sprint and sprint

Jess looking ready to go!

relays were also getting warmed up and ready to go. Again we had a few different waves and this group would not have to swim as far as the first group. I tried to keep everyone calm and shouted goodluck to each person, gave some hugs and they were off!

First out of the water was Kelly. Holly from Team in Training and I stood near the swim exit and cheered for all the team members until the last one came through. They all looked so happy to be done with the swim in Lake Erie!

Kelly finishing the bike!

Next up was the bike. My hope was just that the weather would hold out and that everyone would ride safely on both courses. Most of the athletes had road bikes but not all. In fact one of our team athletes Rebecca actually won a new road bike from Bike Authority as part of the annual raffle! Everyone made it in safely from the bike and the last thing remaining was the run (my personal favorite).

The run was either a 5K or 10K run depending on the race and

Rebecca finishing the olympic tri!

again we had athletes doing both race distances so it would be a little while before some of the folks finished and we headed over by the Team in Training tent and finish to cheer on the finishing team members. Everyone did well on the run as well! It was fun being able to scream and ring the cowbell for each one as they hit the finish.

Anita getting her award

After the race we had coffee, water and lots of good snacks at the team tent as well as some yummy post race food from Northcoast Multisport. Once most of the finishers were done they started the awards for each race. Our team did really well with a number of athletes placing in their age groups! In the olympic we had Ellen win her age group and in the sprint we had Anita win her age group, Jess placed 3rd in her age group and had a 5-minute PR and one of our relay teams won as well!

It was a great day and I am so proud of the work that the team did! They all pushed themselves to do their best and most of all helped Team in Training raise the money needed to save lives. Thank you to Mickey and Northcoast Multisport for putting on this event each year, to the volunteers on the course including my husband Steve and stepkids Evan and Grace as well as the Team in Training staff who came out to help and cheer. And an extra special thanks to Steve for all his help this season as I couldn't have done it without him!

A New PR at the 2014 Milton Man Olympic Tri

I'm one of those people that likes to compete and push myself to be better. I guess that's why I enjoy the sport of triathlon. You can directly correlate your training efforts to race efforts and see yourself grow from season to season. Sometimes you don't grow as much as you think you should and you have to look at things and see where you need to improve.

I had a good day at the Milton Man olympic tri yesterday but definitely need to work on some things.

Prerace:

prerace selfie with the hubby

Steve and I got up at 4:30am, had a good breakfast, got dressed and headed out around 5:10 for the hour and 20 minute drive to Lake Milton. The weather was okay for us until we got to Ravenna and then it was a downpour. We were both hoping the weather would turn for the race and fortunately it did. Right around the time we hit the parking lot and picked up our bags from the transition area the rain stopped. We got our bikes racked and our transition areas setup, used the bathroom and then got our wetsuits on for a warm up swim. The water felt good. Not too hot, not too cold but the outside air was warm and humid already.

With the rain, the start time for the race was pushed back a little to give the roads a little time to dry out. After a prerace meeting the first wave of men were ready to go. Steve was in the second wave of men and then I was in the female wave 5 minutes later.

Swim - 1500m:

nice pic of the lake taken by Lynn Marut

The swim for the olympic is two 750m loops of a clockwise swim. You jump in the water from a boat dock and lineup in the water to start. The first loop went okay for me. The only real issue I had was with my googles. I guess I didn't tighten them enough as I was getting water in my right side and that was a little annoying as I would have to stop and tread water to adjust. The second loop seemed to go faster for me and probably because I was more settled in. I never found a consistent rhythm but just kept moving forward until I was close enough to stand and exit to stair ramp. Looked at my watch and it said 32 minutes and change but add in another minute to get to the transition area and I ended up at 33:41. This was slower than I wanted as I had hoped for about 30 minutes flat. This made me 6/7 in my age group leaving the swim. Good thing I never count on the swim to help me! Still in looking at my results from last year, this was an improvement of 3-1/2 minutes on this particular swim course. So far so good.

T1:

Kinda slow here at 1:39. Quickly dried off, put on socks and shoes, helmet and glasses and took in a few gulps of water and headed toward to bike mount.

Bike - 24 miles:

The bike on this course consists of three 8-mile loops. It's a pretty straight forward, flat course with a couple small rollers and a gradual climb. As I started my first loop the roads were still wet with some standing water in some places so I was a little more conservative on the first loop than I wanted to be but with my tubular wheels I wanted to be cautious of flatting. The course starts out fast as soon as you make the left onto NE River Rd. You can easily get into the mid-high 20s here. Once you make the turnaround there is some gradual climbing that combined with the wind yesterday caused a slow down. I think my average pace in that section was 18-19. My first loop came in around 25 minutes, my second loop 22 and my third at 22 for a total time of 1:09:44 (20.7 mph average). My goal was 21mph so I was almost there and think if my first loop would have been a little more aggressive I would have been right there. This was an improvement on my time last year of 2 minutes and I had the fastest bike split in my age group so I was happy with that.

steve with his new QR!

Steve got to take out his new Quintanoo Roo Seduza tri bike on her maiden voyage so that was exciting!

T2:

I hit the bike dismount, ran in and changed shoes, threw on my race belt, run hat and garmin, downed a gel and headed out. I am not sure how long this was as the time was thrown in with my run based on a timing issue. I am guessing I was around a minute here.

Run - 6.2 miles:

The run course is a double loop of an out and back 5K. It's a pretty flat run and is almost always a hot run. The start runs through a little section of trail and then heads through the parking lot onto the road where you take a right onto NE River Rd and then run down Mahoning Avenue across the bridge down about a mile to a turn around. I felt pretty good off the bike and for most of the run my Garmin ticked off 7:50-7:55 pace so I was okay with that. I felt good starting the second loop although it was definitely hot and humid. The second loop went fast and I felt good until the run turn around where I started to have a pretty irritating stomach cramp. I was able to just push through at a slower pace of 8:00-8:13 that last bit. My split time said 50:56 or 8:05 average pace but again that includes my T2 so I am thinking I was at least a minute faster, which would have brought my average pace down a little bit as I was trying to hit sub 8 for the run. I placed 1st in my age group on the run as well.

The Finish

It was nice to see Steve and some friends cheering for me as I hit the finish. I wasn't able to sprint as much as usual with the cramping but I was glad to be done. I had tried for 2:35 but came in at 2:36:01, good for 1st in the 35-39AG and 6th female. Definitely an improvement over last year where my time was slower by 8 minutes. Again I have some work to do on the swim especially but also on the post bike run. I finished, downed a water and headed right for the misting tent, which felt amazing. Thanks to Champ Racing for putting on another great event and to Northcoast Multisport and all the volunteers for helping out.

Post Race:

enjoying Ray's place with friends post race!

After the race we packed up our bikes and transition stuff, changed into some dry clothes and then hung around for the results/awards. There were quite a few good athletes out racing and some fast times for the men and women.

Steve and I had planned to visit Rays Place in Kent on the way home for a post race celebratory beer and food and our friends Bill, Lynn,Tony and Nate were planning to go there too after the race so we were able to hang out and chat about the race, training and beer. It was a good time and when we got home I was relaxed by the pool for a little bit before the storms rolled in.

While I am happy to have walked away with a new PR and an age group win I can see clearly where I am not up to par. We all have strengths and weaknesses but it's learning to address those weaknesses as well as playing to our strengths that will move us along to where we want to be.

Maybe Offroad 5 Milers are My Sweet Spot

For the sake of efficiency, I'm combining race reports for my last two races: The NERC Autumn Leaves 5 Miler and the Twinsburg Turkey Trot 5 Miler. Both races went well for me and I am thinking that this distance is a good sweet spot for me in terms of effort.

Race # 1 - NERC Autumn Leaves 5 Miler 

The Autumn Leaves race took place on Sunday, 11/3 at the Lake Farmpark in Kirtland. It had rained all day and night beforehand so it was a slippery, muddy mess but it was a blast. Steve and I both ran it. I felt pretty crappy on our 1 mile warm up so I wasn't sure what kind of day I would have out there. I heard the course was going to be challenging so I went into with the mindset of just wanting to finish and challenge myself. The women's field was actually pretty competitive at this race including a couple of outstanding younger girls.

Running along one of the scenic trails

The race included some gravel trail, a good bit of muddy pasture running, some horse barns, some paved asphalt trails and a very muddy and slippery corn maze! Needless to say it was NOT a boring race at all. It was very scenic with the colors of fall and just a very fun race.

I definitely pushed myself but it was not a day to PR with the conditions. I held on pretty strong for the duration of the race but did get passed by 2 ladies to finish at 39 minutes (10th overall and 2nd in my age group). Steve also did well running under 34 mins and placing 2nd in his age group as well! NERC did a nice job with the race and the awards and gave us all huge trophies for the effort. I will definitely look forward to running this one again!

Post race celebrating with Steve 

Race # 2 - Twinsburg Turkey Trot 5 Miler

Prerace with Steve

The Turkey Trot was this past Saturday, 11/9. This is always a fun fall race. It combines road and trails so it it more challenging terrain than your average 5 mile road race. Last year I had run it but didn't really have a great day. This year was another story! I just felt better this week. Again my husband raced too and we both felt pretty good on our mile warm up.

It was chilly but I opted to race in shorts with a baseball cap, long sleeve and my gloves. This turned out to be just right although it was very windy and cold for a few minutes waiting for the race start. The first mile of this race is always very fast and this year was no exception. I felt like I was going to be in trouble going out in the low 6's but luckily I was able to hold on and slow my tempo as we hit the trail for some climbing. There were a couple of younger girls who were ahead of me but I passed one before we exited the trail. The other girl and I went back and forth for maybe a mile before I passed her. At that time I thought maybe I was in second or first as I wasn't 100% if there was another woman ahead of me or not. I did my best to just hang on and push.

My first 1st place finish!

As I hit the homestretch I reached down to adjust my bib and tore my number so I was running across the finish line holding it. I could see/hear Steve cheering. I didn't see a ribbon so I assumed I was in second place. I was a little out of it but heard my name and Steve came over to see me and I asked him what place I was I was in and he said FIRST! I was excited and surprised to have been first overall female! This was the first race I've ever won first in (officially).  My time of 36:22 (7:16 pace) was not a PR for this distance but it was for this race and this course.

Post race celebrating with my #1 fan!

I won a trophy and a turkey for my hard work! Steve also had a great race placing 5th overall and 1st in his AG! I am looking forward to seeing what I can do in this race in the years to come. Thanks to Northcoast Multisport and Champ Racing for helping out with this race.

Special thanks to sponsors: Rev3 and Powerbar Team Elite for keeping me fueled and ready to go all season!

Greater Cleveland Triathlon Race Report

The Greater Cleveland Triathlon is a great race put on each year in Mentor by Northcoast Multi Sports. The race director is a good guy and does a lot for the local triathlon community in Northeast Ohio. I did not race this year but was a cheerleader for the kids who raced Saturday at the kids race and for my husband Steve who raced the olympic tri on Sunday. While it's fun to race it is also nice to be on the sidelines sometimes too!

Saturday - Kids Triathlon:

Gracie in her Rev3 visor and braids so cute!

Both of my stepkids raced this year and were both really excited to participate. It's so cute to see the younger kids getting involved in our sport!

Gracie's Race:

There were waves setup by age so my stepdaughter Gracie was up first in the kids age 9-10 group. With the water being too rough that morning they cancelled the swim and instead had a duathlon. Gracie had to run 1/2 mile, bike 3 miles and run another 1/2 mile. This was her first race and she did awesome! I am so proud of her for leaving it all out there. And didn't she look adorable in her little Rev3 visor and braids and tri shorts? She even asked us to give her quicklaces.

Evan's Race:

Evan coming into T2 from the bike!

Evan was in the next wave of kids 11-12. He had to run 1 mile, bike 6 miles and run 1 mile. This was his second year competing and he did great too. He looked like a little pro in a Powerbar Team Elite kit! He said he was a little disappointed not having the swim but he was a good sport.

Race day with the family

It was a fun morning as the whole family including our new greyhound Mack came out to the race. We made signs and had fun cheering on the kids. The kids both had fun and said they want to do the race again next year so it was a success! They both got nice finisher's medals too! If you're kids are interested in triathlon having them sign up for a kid's race is a great way to get them involved!






Steve's Race:

The next morning it was time to get up to cheer for my husband on his birthday. We all made signs and hung out while he raced. The water was again rough and so the adult race was turned into a duathlon as well. This actually played to Steve's strengths since he is strong on the bike and run.

Steve with his AG award!

The race started with a 1 mile run followed by a 23 mile olympic bike and a 10K run. Steve had a good day out there. He had the fastest bike split in the race and placed 2nd in his age group, 9th overall. He was almost 1st in his AG but had a hammie issue the last few minutes that forced him to slow down.

I also got to cheer for my teammate Jaime who raced the olympic as

Teammate Jaime ready to race!

well. She had a great race too placing 1st in her AG and 4th overall of the females! Some of our other friends raced that day as well in the sprint and olympic races and all in all it was a good day of racing for most!

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!