Quick & Dirty 8K Trail Race Report

One of my absolute favorite things about fall in Cleveland, Ohio is trail running! What's not to love about running through a sea of colors? Not to mention breathing in the fresh fall air and the sound of leaves crunching beneath your feet. What can I say? I am hooked!

When I realized that The Dirty Trail Series had a race in mid October right by me in Kirtland at the beautiful Chapin Forest I could not resist signing up. The race did not disappoint. I highly recommend this or any of the Dirty Series races. Race director Joe Jurczyk is a great guy and is very passionate about trail running and running in general.

Prerace:

keeping warm prerace!

With a 9am start Steve and I were able to sleep in until 7am! This is maybe one of my favorite things about shorter fall trail races. We got up and had breakfast and went through our usual routine and left the house around 7:45, arriving at the Hobart Rd entrance of Chapin Forest around 8.  We picked up our bibs and goodies, said hi to some friends and hit the trails for the usual mile warm up. I We hung out in the heated car until close to the start to stay warm. It was a chilly morning with temps in the low to mid 40s but the rain had held off, which was good!

The Race:

start of the race. steve out front I'm in the gray run tee & blue visor

We lined up about 5 minutes before the start. I had decided to just wear my arm warmers and I could take them off if I heated up. A couple quick announcements and we were off! The race started in a field and it was a little wet so as the pack took off there was definitely some water flying. The hubby was right out front leading the guys and I started in the front as well having only been passed by 2 females.

As we entered the woods the first 1/2 mile - maybe mile was on a crushed gravel trail but then we turned right and the trail quickly turned technical with tons of rocks and roots and leaves. It was darker in the woods but the brightness of the leaves was gorgeous. There were quite a few good climbs in the race including one straight up hill that pretty much everyone walked at least some of (including me). It also rained some but I enjoyed that as it made the race feel more like a fall trail race.

Heading back I tried to stay with the group of guys I had been running close to. I hadn't seen any other women pass so I figured I was still in third place. At one point I saw the woman in front of me and came close to catching her but then there was some confusion about the course. I saw a number of people including some women coming towards me in the opposite direction and I was confused so I asked them what they were doing. They had missed a loop of the course and told us to keep heading to the finish. I figure I lost a little time here maybe 20 or 30 seconds until I got back on track. My garmin then read 4.5 miles so I knew we had to be close to the finish.

Lucky #3456 and my 3rd place medal!

Once I saw the finish I sprinted and passed one of the guys running with the group and I saw Steve ahead yelling for me. I finished the course in 38:37 (8:03 pace). I was a little bummed I didn't break 8 but was happy overall with the 3rd place female finish on a tough course.  I guess with a lucky # like 3456 you have to have a good race, right?! I was awarded with a cool medal and camelback bottle for the win. Steve also had a good race finishing 1st in the masters division and 7th overall with a time of 33:45 (7:02 pace).

Postrace:

After the race it was chilly so we threw on our sweats and headed over to Pulp to treat ourselves to some postrace smoothies to celebrate. I am looking forward to more trail races this season before a couple of months off racing for the off season.

Inaugural Lake Health Northern Ohio Half Marathon Race Report

Lake Health and Second Sole Mentor did an excellent job with the inaugural Northern Ohio Marathon/Half Marathon. It was a very well-organized event, the course was marked and easy to follow with plenty of aid stations and volunteers. I was planning to run the full marathon originally but due to health issues I needed to scale back this fall. Lake Health was very easy to work with in switching my registration to the half.

Race Morning:

The race starts at Fairport Harbor very close the the beach (minutes from my house), which was a definite bonus on race morning. I was able to sleep until almost 6am. As I was up late the evening before following the Kona coverage I needed this sleep! I got up, took a quick shower just to get moving, had a cup of coffee, got dressed and ate breakfast and was ready to run out the door by 6:45. Steve and the kids were coming to cheer me on so this was exciting. 

hanging out with my stepdaughter prerace

We arrived near the start and parked on the side of the road at 2nd street. It was still dark at this time (around 6:55-7am). I got out of the car and immediately did my 1 mile warm up. A bit faster than planned at an 8:30 pace but I was definitely warmed up after that. A little stretching and a quick potty break and it was time to lineup at the start. I said hello to some running friends and got my garmin ready to go. My goals for the race were to try for a PR of 1:38 and/or a top 10 female finish.

The Start & First Half:

The start was fast with a pretty decent downhill at the beginning of the race and a nice flat section. I had intended to pace myself around 7:30 the first mile. Glancing at my garmin I could see that I went out a little fast at 7:08 first mile. Still I felt good and slowed the pace down to that sweet spot of 7:30-7:45.  I felt great the first half. I had gotten passed by a couple of ladies but not many so I just wanted to stay in a good position and try to finish in the top 10. Around mile 5 I took in my first gel (thanks Powerbar) and felt an immediate kick. I felt very strong coming up the hill on Corduroy Rd entering Mentor Headlands. 

The Back Half & Finish:

The next few miles went pretty well also. I liked running by Headlands Beach but was a little disappointed we didn't run down by the water. I felt steady and each time I looked at my watch I was on target with the 7:30-7:40 pace. At mile 9 I took another gel. It must have been about mile 10 or 11 that I could feel a change in how I was doing. I slowed down to closer to an 8 minute pace and tried to hold steady. At that point I wasn't sure the PR would happen but I still wanted to try for it. Mile 10 went ok, mile 11 was tough and mile 12 was not pretty. I had gotten passed by one woman who just had it that day and in the last 1/2 mile or so two more women passed me. It is rare for me to let someone pass me this late in a race but I honestly didn't have my usual kick left that day. I didn't fall apart but I just didn't have my drive. 

the stats were available instantly!

After making the turn back onto 2nd street I could see and hear the crowd and I heard Steve and the kids yelling for me so I pushed as much as I could until the finish. My time was not a PR but I was happy with the 1:42:29. It was not an easy course and it was a little warmer than I would have liked but overall it was a good race and I was able to capture 2nd in my age group although I dropped to 13th overall female. 

Post Race:

Lake Health generously had set up a tent with massage tables and pools with ice water so I was able to take advantage of both of those two things to start the recovery immediately. I also had a water and a snack. 

Getting my age group award!

We hung around for a little while and waited for my award. Second Sole Mentor provided gift certificates to the overall and age group winners, which was very nice of them. In addition to the awesome medals Lake Health also provided a high quality 1/2 zip tech shirt as well. 

On the way home we stopped at Pulp so I could get my favorite smoothie and I went home to take a recovery bath, nap and use my Normatec MVP recovery boots.

It was a good day. I definitely recommend this one to anyone looking for a fall race for 2014!

Believe & Achieve 5K/10K Trail Race Report

I was excited to race again this year at the Believe & Achieve 5/10K trail run. The race is put on by Zach Johnson of Outrun (a super nice guy) to benefit Girls With Sole (one of my favorite local charities). Seeing Liz and the girls run is always a heart warmer because what she does for the girls is so wonderful! My husband Steve designed the logo for the shirts and facebook page, which were super cute!

enjoying a little grassy downhill action on the course

This race is located at Penitentiary Glen in Kirtland, which is conveniently located about 5-10 minutes from home. With the start time being a little later at 8:30 Steve and I were able to sleep in til 7! After a quick breakfast and getting dressed we headed out around 7:30, arriving around 7:45. We had plenty of time to do a one mile easy warm up and relax before the start. Since I had run 13 the day before with my friend Amy in preparation for the upcoming Northern Ohio Marathon 1/2, my legs were a little tired and I opted to run the 5K again this year. Steve signed up for the 10K this time around.

I lined up in the front of the pack and at 8:30 we were off. The 5 & 10 K runners go out together since the course is basically a double loop. The lead guys including Steve were booking and I was a little behind them for maybe the first 1/2 mile or so and then started to slow the pace a bit. I knew I was just doing the 5K but even the 5K on this course is a challenge to run fast with some of the elevation, stream crossings and technical footing.

My goal was to hit around an 8-minute pace and try to place in the top 3 females with this being a smaller race (last year I had placed 2nd). I hoped my time would be a little better this year as I hit the straightaway of grass toward the finish. I was surprised to see a young girl that I had passed in front of me again at the finish as I had not seen her get by me. I guess I must have been in the zone or she missed a turn somewhere and went off course. Either way I was happy to place 3rd on these tired legs with a 26:02 (average of 8:23) and 6th overall in the 5K. Not quite as speedy as I had planned but there were some good hills on the course that slowed me down a little bit.

Post race with hubby and our awards!

Steve also had a great race in the 10k, tying for 3rd place with a speedy time of 46:57 (7:34 pace). After the race it was nice catching up with some fellow runners and triathletes that had came out that day.

Thanks to Zack and Liz and everyone that came out to make it a great race!

Going With the Flow This Fall

Sometimes in life things happen that alter our plans no matter how awesome those plans might be. Unfortunately I am experiencing one of those "shit happens" moments myself this Fall. Having been sick on and off for the last six weeks and visiting the doc again last Friday it seems I need to alter my fall plans. While this sucks tremendously I need to get healthy. I cannot focus on getting healthy with a fall marathon and ultra marathon hanging over my head. So, I will not be doing them. And I am okay with this. My health is more important.

My plan is to go ahead and  run the Lake Health 1/2 marathon. Since I have already paid for the full and am basically trained to run a half, I think I can do this without much intense training. It may not be a PR but I can still give the best that I have to give right now.

The only other scheduled races on my calendar now are a trail 5K this weekend and 5 miler at the beginning of November. I think I can do these with no issues. The ultra will have to wait until I am 100% healthy. I plan on being around for a while so I am confident that this will happen when the time is right.

I am very happy to have had a successful 2013 season including the Rev3 Cedar Point half. Being sick and still being able to push myself to a new 70.3 PR on a tough day is something I am proud of. In retrospect maybe I pushed a little harder than I should have. Hoping these next few shorter races are a little easier on me and looking forward to winding down for a nice, long off-season and getting healthy for a strong 2014 season!

Never a Dull Moment at the 2013 Rev3 Cedar Point Race

I am happy to say that another Rev3 Cedar Point 70.3 is in the books! It was a tough day out there this year due to rough winds and a moved swim but I was able to come out with a PR anyways! As always there was never a dull moment for this race!

Prerace:

Teammate Kate McDowell & Me

Steve and I had pretty much wrapped up our packing Friday night after work and we headed out Saturday morning around 11 to Sandusky. It was a short 1.5 hour drive. We stopped for a quick lunch and headed over to Cedar Point for the Rev3 race expo. When we got there I ran into my sweet teammate Kate who was working timing. It was great to see her and then we quickly started running into other Rev3 folks including Laura Mount, Race MC Sean English and the Rev3 man himself Charlie Patten. 

Steve and I visited the Bike Authority tent to have Sean Gilbert check out our bikes and we got all setup. We headed over to the Hotel Breakers and got checked in then headed out around 5 to meet my teammate Jaime Dix and her husband Andrews for a delicious, carb-heavy dinner at Wezey's Italian Eatery. The food was excellent and it was fun catching up with Jaime and Andrew before their race. They were both doing the full rev. 

After dinner we stopped for a couple snacks and headed back to our room. Much to my happiness there was a Harry Potter movie on so we vegged out and watched the movie and I proceeded to eat leftover pizza until I could no longer move. Think we were out around 10:30 for the night. Woke up around 3:30 and fell back asleep until 5. 

Race morning:

Waking up I was bummed to hear that the swim had been moved to the bay due to a weather advisory with high winds. I had never done the bay swim before and wasn't sure what to expect. We got up, had coffee and breakfast and headed out to transition around 6:30. We were setup before 7 and had plenty of time to snack, use the restroom a few times, get our wetsuits on and head over to the swim start. 

Swim: 1.2 miles in Lake Erie, Cedar Point Bay

I am almost always nervous before the swim. It is the thing I like and practice the least and doing a "new" swim was even more nervewracking for me. After talking with some friends it was time to line up by waves. My wave (women under 40) was the last wave. I lined up with teammate Heather Oravec and went in with her on the timetrial start. The swim felt long to me. We had to swim out and around an island through a shallow channel with rocks on the left side (which I hit a couple times) and boats to the right. I actually did not mind that part. After coming around the island it was much tougher for me and it seemed to take forever. I am sure I was off course with the buoys to the left. My goal for the swim time was 45 minutes but I came in a little slower at 52. One of the slowpokes in my wave placing 35/42. Fortunately I don't bank on my swim time but looking at my time from 2 years ago I see I was better then.

T1

We had a long T1 with about a 1/3-1/2 mile run from the swim start back to transition. I had brought my flip flops to run in. Maybe not the best shoe selection but I did not want my running shoes to be wet for the 13.1 miles. My T1 was 8:59. Wow! Compared to my 3:36 for T1 last year. Big difference but again we were all slowed down this year and I did stop for a potty break after the swim too which may have added a couple extra minutes.

Bike: 56 miles along Hellaciously Windy Lake and Country Roads

On the bike. Can u see the wind?

I was excited to start the bike; however, heading out of the park along the lake it was clear this was going to be a tough day for biking. The winds were brutal especially the stretch along the lake. Starting out I felt wobbly in my aerobars and with my race wheels so I alternated between aero and road position. My energy level was definitely better for the first bike split and I averaged just under 20mph at 19.86. The second split was brutal with wind and my slow split of 16.94 shows that. The final split was 19.52 with a final bike time of 2:55:12 (average speed of 19.18). This was very comparable to my bike time last year of 2:56. I had hoped to do better than 20mph this year but with the winds I am happy that I was even able to be a tad faster than last year. I was 6/42 in my division.

T2

Leaving T2 Checking the watch!

I was very happy to get off my bike and out of those killer winds. My back and neck were hurting so I sprayed on some topical spray, changed into my running shoes and visor and headed out. T2 was 1:54, which included a super fast potty break.

Run: 13.1 Mile Half Marathon

Starting the run I was unsure I would PR. My watch said 4 hours. I thought I will have to push it to break 6. Fortunately I was able to do that! My first 5-6 miles I was running okay at an average 8:30-8:40 pace but didn't feel too great. Then around mile 7 or 8 I had a burst of energy and felt terrific so I was able to average 6:55-7:55 pace. This was my fastest run of the past couple of years where I had sustained foot injuries. In looking at the results I was 4/42 in my division. I felt steady and strong on the run and the finish.

The Finish: 

I had a little kick left at the end and finished in 5:52:55. I was excited to hear Steve cheering for me and Rev3 MC Sean announce my name and he played the Ramones for my finish, which was awesome! My results were good for 9/42 in my division and 56/246 females. It felt great to PR although my goal had been 5:45. I think I will get there soon. I may have even been there this year with normal T1 and less wind. 

Post race celebrating with the hubby :)

Postrace Steve had ice cold IPAs at the finish. What an awesome hubby! Steve also had a good race. Not a PR but a comparable time to last year.

It is great being able to train together day in and day out and then to share the ups and downs of racing together! 

This was a great race for me and my last triathlon this season. I am looking forward to making some forward progress for next season!

What I'm Up To This Fall - A 70.3, Lots of Running and a Special Cause

Wow, first of all I can't believe it's almost fall! Where did the summer go?! This weekend is Labor Day already. That being said, it's time for me to wrap up triathlon season.  Unfortunately I ended up missing out on a couple key weeks of training due to an illness but this week I am back on track. It ended up being a pretty good season and I am hoping to end it with a shiny, new 70.3 half PR (fingers crossed) at Rev3 Cedar Point. This is my favorite race of the year and I am always both happy to race and sad to see it pass. I am excited to see my teammates and the awesome Rev3 staff and am hoping for nice weather as with the last couple of years. Rumor has it that it may be a hot one.

Next up it's time to focus on running and running and running. With the inaugural Lake Health Northern Ohio Marathon in October and the Bills Badass 50K (BBA50K) Ultramarathon following in November I need to log some serious miles! With the 70.3 training I have not been logging as many running miles as ideal for the marathon and I am sure my performance will reflect that. I think I'll hold off on trying for that old BQ this fall and save it up for spring. My goal is really just to use it as a training run now for BBA50K.

With BBA50K being my first ultra I am both excited and nervous! I've never run more than 26.2 so this will be a big deal for me and I also feel like trail running is physically tougher than road running so my real goal is just to finish without any injuries. And my other goal is to raise awareness and money for brain cancer. On May 15 of this year I lost my 27-year-old cousin Danielle (affectionately known to many as "Smoxy") to brain cancer. Danielle was passionate about fighting cancer and she fought it long and hard for seven years. In recent years she had become very involved with an organization called First Descents, which raises funds to send young cancer survivors on life-changing retreats. First Descents became like a second family to Danielle. It only makes sense to help raise funds to help send more young cancer survivors to First Descents camps. Your donation - no matter what the amount is so very important and appreciated. To donate click the link here.

So that's what I am up to this fall. I know it won't be easy but it certainly won't be as difficult as fighting cancer! Stay tuned for updates.

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!