itasca's oktoberfast 2011 5k

as i'm sure you know, dave & i became triathletes this summer.  we've been training since february and did a race in july and another in august.  at the end of august we went to see my family in georgia.  we have been back for 3 weeks now and things at the gym haven't been going well.  we haven't been in the pool since we were at my grandparent's house, and we have only been to the gym together maybe twice in those 3 weeks.  luckily, dave rides his bike 2 nights a week from home, and i have been taking ian and going to the gym during the day.  we really hoped to squeeze in one more triathlon before the season ended, but the weather in illinois has not been above 70 since we've been home...  and this is the last weekend of triathlon season... so.... guess we'll start again next year!  

so.... i think it was me who had the brilliant idea... let's do a 5k!!!  it'll be SO fun!  i have ran 2 5ks in my entire life-  1.  sophomore year cheerleading camp.  2.  schaumburg triathlon.  both of these had similar results.  i'm not a runner.  i don't love it.  i don't get a "runner's high."  i don't like it.  but what will i be doing at 9 am saturday morning you ask?  running a 5k.  why?  why?  maybe it was the promise of free beer & brats after the race (wait, i don't even like beer!)  maybe it was the free goodies (those are always nice).  whatever it is, i'm crazy... and i'll be running a 5k saturday morning.  not sure if dave & i are running  together or not.  it is fun to have someone to run with, but i definitely would just be holding him back...  we'll see.  so please send luck, prayers, and well wishes this way.  i certainly need them!!!

results on monday?  yes!

and then we ran another triathlon

after we ran our 1st race dave & i both made the comment that we now felt like we had nothing to look forward to.  all that training & then it was over, just like that.  so we decided to do another race. we had a hard time picking out a second race.  we wanted to stick to the sprint distance b\c try as i may, i just am not that athletic, and despite all this training, i wasn't really getting any better it seemed...  of course, a lot of the sprint distances had really long swims- and the swim is probably my weakest event- except, unlike biking or running- if i stop swimming, i will die.  so we decided to do a mini sprint.  we had a lot going on- a lot.  the week of the race i was meeting up with new blog friends and then we had friends coming into town for the weekend.  a lot of crazy.  thank goodness we only did the mini distance. 

swim-  the swim for this mini was 250 yard- which is what we had been swimming when training for the 1st race (oops).  this for me is a pretty perfect distance.  they had the swimmers split into 2 pools- 1-260 in pool 1, and 261-500 in pool 2.  dave was 141- so he was over halfway back in the 1st pool, and i was 296, so i was near the front of the 2nd pool.  i was in the pool 10 minutes after the beginning of the race!  this swim was much smoother to me than the last- they were spacing people about 20 seconds apart- and there was a boy around 12 in front of me and he was pretty fast, so i never had to worry about him being right in front of me.  i was able to actually swim and do my strokes w\o feeling sloshed around all over the pool.  i finished in 6:52- 34th out of 40 in my age group. 

bike-  this race was not chip timed, so our transitions were lumped in with our event times.  i got to my bike quickly, threw my jersey, socks, shoes, headband and helmet on, and was out in a good time- i wish i knew how fast though.  the bike course was decent- 10k.  it was on frontage roads, and you rode out to a point, and turned around through a parking lot and went back.  i definitely didn't like that- it was 2 way bike traffic almost the entire time, which made it hard to pass if you needed to.  also, people, for the love of all that is holy- when you pass someone on your bike- you say ON YOUR LEFT!!!  how do people not understand/know that.  there were some decent sized hills in the course (to me anyway) and we i had not had the chance to be on our actual bikes in a couple weeks (dave owns a bike, which he rides on a trainer at our house, i ride my mnl's bike), and i had just been riding stationary bike.  oh, i needed help on those hills!  also, i'm not very coordinated w\ getting my nutrition & water bottle out (lost my bottle on mile 13 of the last race).  this time i did the energy chews before the race, and decided to do gu on the bike.  i am not good at opening things w\ my teeth, but finally got the gu open.  oh gross!  next time i'll stick with coffee flavor...  i thought i was gonna puke gu all over myself.  so i needed water... i managed to get my bottle out only to not be able to get any water to drink -(??!?!).  i told dave this after the race and he pointed out to me that the bottle i was carrying this time had a straw in it- and i was turning it up to drink... womp, womp...  i also overshot my exit and went to the farthest set of bike racks and ended up having to walk my bike twice as far to get back to my station.  boo.  i finished in 30:34- 24th in my age group. 

run-  2 mile run.  i hate running.  i am lazy and running is dumb...  once again, i got off the bike and felt like i couldn't run.  my muscles in my calves felt so sore even after stretching after the bike.  this transition probably took a little longer b\c 1.  i had to walk my dumb bike back and 2.  i need water!!!  i got passed by so many people.  i basically was walking as fast as i could!  on my way out, i walked by this tiny old man who was in the schaumburg race w\ us, and he was on his way back- when i was on my way back, he was out running the 2 miles again!  and then when dave got in, we saw him coming back & going out AGAIN!  the run was also done where you ran to a certain point, turned and came back.  i finally felt okay when i got to the turn around and was able to run 90% back.  i have really got to work on running.  a lot.  on my way back i finally passed dave- he was coming back from his bike!  run time 33:45:5.  aw-ful.  38th in my age group.  boo.

i was able to get back in, get a little something to drink and grab the camera to catch dave crossing the finish line!  my overall time 1:11:11:5.  36th out of 40 in my age group.  405 in the race overall.  again, i end up being disappointed.  again. 

dave

after the race, they gave out tons of free samples (muscle milk = yum), did post-race stretching and had a raffle!  i ended up winning & picked out a $50 certificate to dick's sporting goods where i was able to get myself new running shoes!  i love the shoes i have now, but i got them when i was pregnant and i have logged a lot of miles in them between work & training!  overall the woodridge mini sprint was a success!!

race photos:  there were several photographers on hand and over 2500 race photos.  dave made 2 in the swim portion, and i made 3 in the bike.

dave is mad that his only race pics are him getting out of the pool and show his chest...

i think i look silly...  

 believe it or not, that's dave getting ready to cross the finish line.  darn camera! 

 almost!

 and he's finished!!

  post race stretching- awesome!

so worth it.

 and more!  

dave grabbing the buffalo by the horns.  it's a metaphor...

we did it!!

and then i ran a triathlon

yes.  me. 

i don't even know when this all began, but it began with my husband.  one night we were sitting in bed and dave said, "i want us to run a triathlon."  i'm sure i thought to myself how insane he was, but he wouldn't let it go, so i did what i always do- i researched it.  and then, somehow... i agreed.  we started training in february spending 6 days a week at the gym.  we chose a race done by our local park district.  5 long months of training, and now i guess we can call ourselves triathletes.  sprint triathletes.  it was tough, but so worth it.  i had 2 goals for the race:  1.  finish.  2.  finish in under 2.5 hours.  i accomplished both!  although i was near the bottom of my age group- i didn't finish last, and i didn't finish last overall! 

swim-  400 m.  the swim was probably the toughest.  i'm not an incredible swimmer- i lack a lot of skill, and i usually end up swallowing water.  we trained pretty hard for the swimming and then discovered 2 days before the race that we had been training in a pool that was HALF the size of the pool we were actually going to swim in, and that we had been swimming HALF the distance.  really, really, really dumb.  so i basically had to swim double what i had been practicing for 5 months.  so dumb.  the water is choppy and it's pretty hard to swim w\ that many people to a lane.  i had a really tough time. 

bike-  15 mi.  i was probably the most prepared for this part.  dave & i had spent the last couple weekends doing rides and we did a few that were around 15 miles that i felt really good about.  it was definitely hard riding w\o someone to cheer you along and push you.  i had to be that for myself.  i had to keep singing "don't stop, don't give up" (from yo gabba gabba) during the tough parts- and it was tough.  very hilly!  i was pretty much dead after the ride, but i was passing people, and that made me feel good!

run-  5k.  this was definitely my weakest event as i am NOT a runner.  i unfortunately wrecked my legs during the bike and was totally unprepared to run.  :(  i ended up speed walking 95% of the run b\c i could hardly use my left leg.  it was also super muggy by that point, but i kept pressing on- i would run when i could, and then walk again.  the "run" went by super quickly, and before i knew it, i was running over the finish line into dave's arms in tears!  i did it!  and while i'm a bit disappointed with my times- i was definitely one of the slowest overall, i just know i need to keep working. 

dave's self-portrait after finishing the race.  he finished in just over 90 minutes!!

 hobbling in on my bike.  boy were my legs wobbly.

 transition 2.  bike to run.  getting my helmet off so i could hit the road again

i had slowed down and realized how close i was!

 run!  run! 

 sweet victory crossing the finish line

after!  we did it!