Strive to TRI

Yes, I am late writing this one. Now the question is can I remember? I think this race was a bit like childbirth. I'm forgetting the pain. I'd better write it down now. Last Jan I decided if I ran a 13.1 under 3hrs I'd sign up for the MightyMan 1/2 Iron man in Montauk . I did, and I did. I was under the impression that 10 months of training and quitting drinking would prepare me for the race. HA! If I was a serious athlete that wasn't prone to bouts of cheesecakecouchpotatoitis it would've turned out much better. I probably would've bailed on the race if it wasn't for one thing... Last May, I won an essay contest at Event Power for a hotel room at the race. And being the cheap-o that I am I wasn't letting a free room in Montauk and a entry fee go to waste just because I was unprepared. Oh did I mention I just returned, the Wednesday before the race, from a 7 day 6 night trip to Disney World that had a free upgrade to a Villa on the meal plan. Not e...

I know I'm late on this post. It was a good solid race. No crazy, weird bodily things happened, no flats, no insanity of any kind... so I don't know what to write about! I apologize now for boring you to tears. Saturday the family and I went out to Southampton to pick up the race packet. It went quick without a hitch. Spent the evening eating pasta and went to be early. I told you BORING. Sunday EARLY morning I got up at 3:15AM I was determined NOT to be late this year. I was on the road, in the dark by 4:15AM. I made it to the race site in Sag Harbor (one of the first) at 5:30AM. It was chilly and dark but the tri community was beginning to buzz and as usual people were excited and having lots of fun even though it was pre-dawn. I found myself chatting with my rack neighbors. They were two guys from NYC that came out to do the race. Both were worried about the swim but looking forward to the bike. I told them to "Say hi as you pass me on the bike. I'm gonna destroy yo...

MNF "They call me Jane, that's not my name" is the lyric on the radio at 4am the morning of the MNF . Crap, now I have that stuck in my head for the day at least the beat is up-tempo. I get out of bed put on my race gear, load up my bike and throw my pack into the truck. Where are my keys? There they are on the kitchen table with my sunglasses—clearly not needed now, pre -dawn and post-storm—and with an envelope. HUH? It's a card from my husband. Today is our legal anniversary . We've been officially married 6 years, he is so sweet. I kiss him and the kids good-bye and drive out to the North Fork of Long Island, farm & wine country. The drive is easy a quick stop at 7-11 (I need my coffee—the last addiction—I am unwilling to give it up) and I'm off. I drive the back roads cause I like to do that. Give me a winding country road—with the possibility of hitting a deer, over a highway and the possibility of hitting a deer— any day . I get to the race si...

Ok, Ok, I'm late on this one. I've started training for the Mighty Man 70.3 in Montauk. I REALLY have no time now! Shelter Island 10K Thank god the race starts at 5:30 cause I find myself at a preschool pool party at 1pm. Fueling up on Hot Dogs, Doritos and Gatorade. I realize I really have to overhaul my diet. I plan to ignore the fact that I am running the Shelter Island 10K in a few short hours and grab a handful of Cheetos. Chatting with the other pre-k moms saying things like, "oh yeah it's a 10K... no big deal... I'm training for a 1/2 iron man... I just had a fever, broke two days ago... no I'm fine to run..." I'm clearly delusional. 3:30 comes and goes and we are still playing pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey —indoors— cause the sky has turned a dismal shade of dark grey and the ark is beginning to float. I turn to my husband and say we have to go NOW if I'm gonna make this race. We gather up the loot from the goodie bags and get the kids in the ...

Waking up at 5:30am is never fun for me. BUT this was the morning of the LI half marathon. I've been running on a treadmill at a 12° incline just so I can handle the hills for weeks and weeks, today is it. I eat my peanut butter on whole wheat, banana and drink my water. I drive to Uniondale . I am meeting Rachael at Eisenhower Park. We say, "meet in the parking lot at say 7 ish ." I don't own a cell so we are winging it. After I get there I realize that Eisenhower Park has MULTIPLE parking lots and there is no way I am going to find her. I have her race number and chip and she is going to be s#!t out of luck if she doesn't find me. I pull right in front of a bathroom and low-and-behold she's already on line. We both can not believe we found each other, cause we both didn't follow the official race directions. We both parked in the Aquatic Center lot instead of the lot at the finish line. Coincidence or sisterly ESP, you decide. We walk to the start and ...

The first race of the season. It was a decent race. The folks over at City Tri and Slope Sports did a bang up job as usual. The start of this race is at the Prospect Park Carousel, zoo and the Old Lefferts House (three Brooklyn landmarks you shouldn't miss). It was a frigid 34 degrees at 7am and by the time I had my bike set up I couldn't feel my toes. There were lots of guys in nothing but spandex and compression socks with blue lips and chattering teeth. I was like, "dudes get some body fat" but they didn't find me funny. My snarky comments didnt go over well. Shocker. The start of the race was good lots of blaring music and a nice bunch of people set up correctly. I of-course started at the back of the pack since I seriously think I can skip faster than I can run. The first 3.5 miles were nice. Through the rolling uneven paths of Prospect Park. Under bridges, through dog parks, around ponds and beside waterfalls. That Olmstead guy knew what he was doing. I felt...

A friend once said this to me about abusing my body — even moderately. He was at a bar sober. He had a conversation with one guy who was an IronMan, he too was drinking soda. On the other side of the bar was another man stupid drunk acting out fellatio on a banana. My friend thought to himself, "Do I want to be an IronMan or a BananaMan?" This saying has stuck with me... I vow to be an Iron(wo)Man.

Happy New Year!!! We'll it's 2009 and I did it, I ran 13.1 miles. I signed up for the Blue Point Brewery race for Dec 27 th but it was canceled due to lack of participants. Since I trained for 3 months for the run, I decided to run my own race. I plotted a course through beautiful Mastic Beach. 4 loops past my house so I could have water/potty breaks. (Smart thinking huh). I planned on running on New Years Day BUT it snowed and was 20 degrees. Sooo I postponed the race to the 3rd when it would be a positively balmy 34 degrees. I have a small head cold, but nothing too terrible to stop me from racing. Race starts out perfect. Hat, check. Gloves, check. iPod , check. Warm running outfit with fleece, check. Heart monitor, check. RoadID , check. I'm off. Nice day, warm considering, black ice only in the shadows. Feeling good. First 5K is a breeze. The sun is shining, very little wind, it is a beautiful day for a run. My friends Tim and Nancy drive by. Big waves. I'm feeli...