tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132297059158503922024-02-20T08:18:42.513-08:00Bounce Bark RunTriathlon Training, Life with Dogs, and the Pursuit of HappinessMollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.comBlogger910125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-19703328023308044812018-01-24T15:31:00.002-08:002018-01-24T15:31:32.812-08:00We live over here nowBlogging has fallen off the planet but dog updates still exist on our <a href="http://www.orionbeardedcollies.com/">website</a>.Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-74702121760613229102014-09-14T18:53:00.003-07:002014-09-14T18:53:27.914-07:00Oh yeah I have a blog!I guess I should write about this munchkin who's been home for about 5 weeks now….<br />
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Sometime soon!Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-32655547375391709922014-07-22T08:35:00.001-07:002014-07-22T08:35:39.148-07:00A Tale of Two RacesLast month I did the Loveland Lake to Lake triathlon (sprint distance). It was awesome cause I did it with <a href="http://everythinggood2day.blogspot.com/">this lady</a> (though she was racing the longer distance) and it was awesome cause I finally got my swim mojo back. The swim was fast, fluid and comfortable - only took a year to get that back. The bike was balls to the walls hard as I could and the run went fine. I even caused a car accident when a particuarly vocal gentleman driving a pickup truck failed to notice traffic had stopped in front of him. Pinnacle achieved.<br />
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Jeff came out to cheer at my last tri and captured my joy at being done just after the finish.<br />
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After I recovered a little I went back out on the run on the hunt for Tea and photobombed her race.<br />
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Duathlon Nationals came last weekend. I flew out to St Paul alone, making it to the host hotel just in time for packet pickup and then built my bike in a hurry, ate dinner and went to bed. I was up before dawn on race morning to take my bike over to transition and then went back to bed with my coffee for a few hours, because the sprint distance race didn't start till nearly noon. There's not a ton to be said...it was hot, humid and windy. I looked like a wet tomato for the majority of the race. My first run was pretty fast. I pushed some big watts on the bike but it was stupidly slow, even for me. The women who took my AG were the sturdy strong bikers who weren't being pushed around so much in the wind; the course did not offer much advantage for small folks who climb well. My second run was just hanging on and trying to pass back people who had passed me.<br />
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And then it was done and after I was done dry-heaving over the side of the finish chute mostly I just wanted to go home. I packed my bike in a hurry and caught an early flight back rather than stay another night in Minnesota. The look of surprise on my husband's face when he saw me in our local watering hole made it all worthwhile. No big revelations or special moments with the last race, I guess my brain was already finished. The goal was to go as hard as I possibly could and leave nothing in the tank - mission accomplished. And now...I think I'm done with that particular form of pain for a bit.Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-61893483116120167862014-07-21T07:21:00.000-07:002014-07-21T07:23:27.580-07:00Not an Ending But a BeginningI'm not sure if there's anyone still around but...yeah, it's been a while. I owe a race report...or maybe two. My last triathlon as well as Duathlon Nationals have come and gone. I'll get to them, eventually.<br />
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With the end of my season, and training/racing life for now, comes a whole mix of emotions. Joy at being done. Sadness at no more snarky little comments in TrainingPeaks from my coach as well as virtual pats-on-the-head. Excitement about what lies ahead. Interest about how embracing a less structured active life will play out in body composition, energy levels, and beer consumption. Curiousity about how the changes to my life over the last year led me to become so apathetic about training and racing. Relief that I recognized the changes in myself early enough to know when to call my season done without fear of judgement. <br />
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But also...a large proportion of gratitude. I'm grateful for my husband for supporting this sometimes-outlandish journey into competitive sports as well as supporting my choice to drop it and take up whereever the summer's explorations take me. I'm grateful to so many friends who talked me through hard training days and disappointing races and celebrated the good ones and were happy for me when I had a big breakthrough. I hope you still bitch to me about your training and race dilemmas and that we can continue to make fun of triathlete egos together. I'm grateful more than anything else to my <a href="http://elizabethfedofsky.blogspot.com/">amazing coach</a> who has been with me for most of this journey and taught me everything I know about how to push my limits and succeed. I'm happy to call her a friend as well and once she's delivered her baby I fully expect we had better find a way across the 1000 miles between us to have a beer! Seriously though, I could never have done anything in the last 7 seasons without her; it's not just about the PRs (of which there were many) but the journey from timid adult-onset athlete to confident racer. Thank you, Elizabeth, for everything.<br />
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So what's next?<br />
*Rest. I'm taking this first week slow and just going with the flow. By slow, of course I mean that yesterday, the day after the race, I took the dogs to the lake, bathed and groomed them, vaccuumed all 3 floors of the house, organized and packed away all my racing gear, rebuilt my TT bike and put it up for sale, rearranged a few parts of the house, and ran 4 loads of laundry. But really, other than some yoga and an open water swim with Tea, it's going to be a mild week.<br />
* Hiking. Jeff got us an annual pass for Rocky Mountain National Park and as it's only 20 minutes from home I expect we will be checking out a trail each weekend. He's doing some advance scouting for his yearly man trip into the wilderness and I'm happy to join in and explore with him.<br />
* Still biking and running. Stanley loves to run with me and we shall do some trail running. It'll be nice to just go out and run and stop when I feel like it and not even care about pace. I've got a road bike on order and hopefully a mountain bike will follow. There are so many roads and trails to try out here and I'm truly chomping at the bit to explore things in our new home.<br />
* Dog agility. I've had to put competition on the back burner while I trained and raced but we are entered in some trials coming up soon. Stan will be very happy to get back to it!<br />
* And more. Music festivals, concerts, beer, tons of work on our property and house, and maybe a few other little things along the way! Life in Colorado is pretty full and I'm looking forward to embracing it all. Maybe without the pressure of race reports (after I get the last ones done) posting will even be a bit easier to do :) <br />
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<br />Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-31753229337607721002014-06-02T19:32:00.000-07:002014-06-02T19:32:43.686-07:00Boulder Sprint TriathlonI can't say I was really looking forward to this race…combine the open water swim issues I've developed since moving to altitude (more on that in another post) and the turnoff of the Boulder tri scene and I wasn't exactly jumping up and down at a local race. But I'd signed up and I couldn't manage to injure myself or come up with any good excuse in the day leading up. So there I was at 5:30am in transition after waiting 20 minutes in a Starbucks parking lot for them to open at 5am because it was Sunday, I'll be damned if I have to race AND go without coffee, and oops I woke up too early and left the house by 4:15.<br />
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As it turned out, there were plenty of folks doing their first triathlons racked near me and their enthusiasm was infectious. Then, as I chatted with the woman next to me, she told me how she had done this race last year. And then had a stroke in transition an hour after finishing. This was her first race back. Yeah, OK, clearly I need to get the hell over myself and just go have fun today. So that became my primary goal - Have. Fun.<br />
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I spent a LONG time warming up. The water wasn't cold at all - in the low 60s when I came for a practice swim Tuesday and in the high 60s on race morning - in either case, WAY WARM compared to the water we train and race in back home (I had more than one experience this weekend that made me realize Colorado folks are bigger weather wimps than Californians!). I needed the long warmup just to calm myself down, keep my breathing under control, stay acclimated. When waves started going off, I stayed in the water, just dunking my face and hanging out. And then it was time to line up to start!<br />
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I went out nice and easy and controlled. I got hit in the head, I got swamped by the waves from a boat that raced by, but since I'd kept my effort light I was OK. I hit the turnaround feeling good and built my effort on the way back. Swim swim swim till I touched sand and then popped up and ran up the ramp. Yes, I had a BIG SMILE on my face for getting through the swim feeling better than I have in nearly a year. <br />
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Onto the bike and for the first time in quite a while I was on a "home course" - I ride this route often, though usually backwards, so I knew nearly the entire thing well. Coach gave me a goal to pass 10 people on the bike. I focused on nothing but counting people as I passed them and pushing ahead to the next person. When all was said and done, I passed 45 people on the bike and averaged 99% of my FTP for the whole 17.2 miles.</div>
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Finally, on to the run and while my legs felt pretty trashed I was still having fun! My Garmin had stopped registering distance/pace after the swim and I'd forgotten my HR monitor at home so I was racing entirely by feel. Coach said to pass 20 people on the run so I made that 35 instead, including one from my AG in the last 100 yards before the finish. </div>
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I ended the day grateful for the opportunity to go out there and have a good time and see people so excited to race their first triathlon. Coming in the top 1/4 of my AG (7th place) at a competitive local race like this was nice but not as important on this particular day. Thanks to <a href="http://www.runthisamazingday.com/">Katie</a> for cheering and the photos and pre- and post- race chitchat. I'm extra excited for my next (and last, for now) triathlon in 4 weeks, because I get to do it with <a href="http://everythinggood2day.blogspot.com/">Tea</a>!</div>
Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-57628949380157730822014-05-22T11:15:00.000-07:002014-05-22T11:15:41.054-07:00Life Happens Part 3As all this life has been happening, I've done my best to stick to the training plan and stay engaged in racing for the year. It's been hard though....motivation wanes at times and the many MANY temptations of Colorado life are calling. Swimming and I have NOT been BFFs since I moved to altitude, the trails near my house keep calling me to bike them (nevermind that I don't, as yet, own a mountain bike), the warmer weather is making me crave backpacking trips in the Rockies, my dog needs to get back to competition again after a yearlong break...<br />
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In addition to all that, the triathletes here...they really fit every single negative stereotype we have in this sport. After a good hard masters swim, I don't wanna hear you talk about your FTP in the hot tub. DURING masters swim, I'd like to actually do ALL FOUR STROKES rather than listen to everyone whine that they can't. Wake up, people are still triathletes even if they don't do Ironman. And so on... It's really become quite a turnoff in general.<br />
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What this means for me is, at the moment, it is highly likely that I will end my racing year after duathlon nationals in July. I have concerns about attempting to fit in long course hours when school starts again in August and honestly I'm just not that into it right now. Nobody should train for a 1/2IM when they aren't feeling it. I do want to stick it out for 8.5 more weeks till Du Nats though; I want to see what I can do coming down from altitude at an event that highlights my best sports. After that, Molly's Summer of Fuck Around In The Woods begins. Bring on the beer festivals, music festivals (of which our town has THREE world class events!), backpacking and mountain biking. This is my 8th straight season of triathlon and all I can say is, somebody needs a LONG break from racing.Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-5550161084152229672014-05-21T12:05:00.000-07:002014-05-21T12:05:00.463-07:00Life Happens Part 2Training has taken me to many new and beautiful places near our house in the past 2 months. <br />
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I've done some very...non-training related things as well!<br />
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Spring has certainly sprung in Colorado. MAJOR spring fever makes it hard to work in a basement some days!</div>
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Finals and grading and the semester are done, so now it's just lab work for the summer - phew! More on my plans for the upcoming months next!<br />
<br />Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-90374113471539098572014-05-20T11:56:00.000-07:002014-05-20T11:56:00.719-07:00Life Happens Part 1And when you don't blog for months, it's cause it was really happening. We moved into our new house. <br />
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It's amazing. I waste an hour a day staring out the windows.<br />
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Puck has chased a multitude of wildlife.<br />
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We've seen even more wildlife. Up close and personal.<br />
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You thought I was kidding.<br />
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We ran out of water on the first weekend. We used our handy dandy water truck that came with the house to retrieve more. <br />
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We've tried out just about every restaurant and bar in town. We've been amazed by this community...for a tiny town there is SO MUCH going on here, from live music every single night to an array of festivals and events. <br />
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We've had snow, we've had rain, we've had warm sunny days and our whole valley has gone green. <br />
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My closest neighbors are cows. And we now have baby cows too.<br />
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We've wood chipped wood, we've burned wood.<br />
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<br />Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-22052352254777596862014-05-19T11:09:00.001-07:002014-05-19T11:09:18.991-07:00A Tale of Two RacesI might as well catch up on races first.<br />
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In March, a few days before we closed on the house, and 2 days before Jeff moved to Colorado, I raced down in Arizona. It felt like a comedy of errors that morning...my wetsuit tore a giant hole across my ass when I put it on, the race director allowed the volunteers to play all bible music in transition, and the swim was a giant clusterfuck of panicked people. However, I felt phenomenal on the bike course that involved climbing over 1000 feet from the lake before turning around and then I felt horrible but went fast on the run that required 500 feet of climbing over the 1.25 miles to the turnaround. I wound up 4th place woman overall!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQoTeLPFMz0joaOYEFFksvvrY8pTacKrD5K-nQGnxaEB4ZRJU9_sh8RdFqBD4XKzRr0BpsVYqByJFN1kbEeXKrVg4osZFTa8AOT8al9n7jnB8mHe2GNrGOCeNIQiMtspqJIfFFgNcWVvs/s1600/1000649_10100296889058770_99032804_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQoTeLPFMz0joaOYEFFksvvrY8pTacKrD5K-nQGnxaEB4ZRJU9_sh8RdFqBD4XKzRr0BpsVYqByJFN1kbEeXKrVg4osZFTa8AOT8al9n7jnB8mHe2GNrGOCeNIQiMtspqJIfFFgNcWVvs/s1600/1000649_10100296889058770_99032804_n.jpg" height="318" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6S-ugxj473VA3Bqn9OBS0em-vt_bSXujRNmH5no0hE-2MyFIv2vkpeQt_MDZIhjDY5iNyfpoBblxEXuTPohKdqUUaNVtrPtf5J97sEncoBdp-Wxi89AXyU77A4rGlTMKgUp0wJEMjoN4/s1600/1959958_10100296807512190_415081330_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6S-ugxj473VA3Bqn9OBS0em-vt_bSXujRNmH5no0hE-2MyFIv2vkpeQt_MDZIhjDY5iNyfpoBblxEXuTPohKdqUUaNVtrPtf5J97sEncoBdp-Wxi89AXyU77A4rGlTMKgUp0wJEMjoN4/s1600/1959958_10100296807512190_415081330_n.jpg" height="200" width="183" /></a></div>
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Last week I raced here in Colorado, a reverse tri where you start with the run. The upside is this allows for a pretty good spread of the field early, the downside is it's damn hard to jump in the water and swim after redlining it for an hour and barely being able to breathe. I had my best 5k run at altitude and threw down the fastest run in my AG, then followed it up with one of my strongest race bikes to date. The swim...was difficult to start while still panting for air but I finished it stronger than I started it. Ended up 2nd in AG and 5th woman overall.</div>
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Turns out when you are on the pointy end of the field, there are a lot of photos of you.</div>
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When I crossed the finish line I got a rose "as thanks for being a mom." This is what happens when you race on Mother's Day weekend.</div>
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And <a href="http://www.newbrewfest.com/home.html">THIS</a> is how we do post-race recovery in Colorado.<br />
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<br />Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-84580844334278273242014-05-09T12:37:00.003-07:002014-05-09T12:37:41.905-07:00Return of the Blog?A certain someone *cough*<a href="http://everythinggood2day.blogspot.com/">Tea</a>*cough* thinks I need to resuscitate the blog...now that I'm officially done with the spring semester and ONLY have lab work and training and dogs to deal with, it could happen. I'm not even sure how to catch up on the past 2 months of moving and new house-ing and racing and schooling and life stress but I'll give it the college try.<br />
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Stay tuned...Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-49724609669294224102014-03-09T08:00:00.000-07:002014-03-09T08:00:01.309-07:00Catching up on 5 weeks in one post<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
12 more days till I can enjoy the view from my house every. single. day.</div>
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Stanley and I did a dog show in Denver on Valentine's weekend. He was Select Dog both days and most importantly we had fun!<br />
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Typical morning dog walk views<br />
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The boys and I hiked Rabbit Mountain on a VERY cold day a couple weeks ago.<br />
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Random sunrise colors<br />
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Stanley turned 7 on March 1st. Birthday croissants were mandatory.</div>
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Then - whoops - I left him at home to go to a beer festival<br />
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But I did let him play with his best buddy in the snow after that!<br />
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We also visited the dog park in our new-future town last weekend. 10 acres of fun!<br />
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The aftermath:<br />
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On Friday the boys and I made 2 trips to the park. One at 8am...<br />
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And one at 4pm...<br />
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And then - <i>this should be a novelty because I DON'T take stupid selfies all the time</i> - we had a little fun with it :)<br />
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It was all melted and sunny and beautiful and warm Saturday. Because Boulder winters rock.Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-15648147146453456332014-03-08T17:29:00.001-08:002014-03-08T17:29:20.955-08:00Chilly Cheeks DuathlonYeah, yeah so it's taken me 2 weeks to get around to writing the report of a race that took just a little over an hour…grad school life is exhaustingly busy. As it is I've missed talking to my husband 2 nights in a row because I fell asleep before the appointed hour.<br />
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Anyway…a couple weeks ago I rolled on out from Boulder down to Cherry Creek State Park in Denver for my first multisport race since moving to Colorado. I've been riding indoors since, oh, the flood? So…it's been nearly 6 months since I biked outdoors. Fun times. We were lucky that it was a beautiful clear day and there was no snow on the ground. It wasn't especially warm and it was VERY windy but I had a few layers on to stay comfy until close to race time. Then I shivered at the start line.<br />
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The format of the race was a ~10.9 mile bike and a 4 mile run. We went off in randomized pre-determined waves of 10-15 people every minute. They started with wave A. I was in wave R. So there was a little waiting but it gave me time to spin my legs out and do a warmup run and roll on up to the start with my R homies. I looked around - we were indeed a Random group, everything from me to some folks on mountain bikes to some CSU tri team guys. I was pretty sure the collegiate athletes would drop me like a hot potato off the start.<br />
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They did…for the minute it took me to get clipped in on the downhill start. And then…I caught and passed them? WTF? I figured from then on it was just a challenge to hold 'em off. I hammered as hard as I could, uphill or down, and passed people from various waves ahead of me and wasn't passed too often. We wound our way around the reservoir and back. Finally, the end was in sight and I hopped off to run into transition.<br />
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Bike: 10.89 miles, 19.3 mph average, 33:54<br />
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Transition involved a long run in, drop the bike, run away with helmet still on (hey, it's FEBRUARY! Thanks to the volunteer who grabbed it and put it in my spot for me!), run waaaaaaaaaay up a hill and finally cross the mat.<br />
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T1-and-only: 1:39<br />
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And then it was up up up the hill for a long time on the run. I felt like complete ass from the start. Welcome to altitude, bitch. So I dialed my effort back and hoped my run would come back to me. We kept on running up and finally turned onto a trail where we at least alternated up and down. At one point I saw Peyton Manning jog by; I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine it. Mile by mile I dropped the pace so that I negative-split the whole 4 miles. Definitely not the kind of pace I'm used to for a sprint race but again it's February at altitude.<br />
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Run: 4.02 miles, 8:45/mi, 35:10.<br />
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<a href="http://everythinggood2day.blogspot.com/">Tea</a> showed up right at the finish from HER race to cheer for me and kick my ass into gear a little harder (and take pictures). It worked, I chased down the woman in front of me by the end!<br />
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And with that my first race of the year was done - phew, let's hope we worked out all the kinks :) I was 5th/18 in the 30-39 age group…if we had had *proper* age groups, I would have been 3rd in 35-39. I'll take it.<br />
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<br />Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-25463911519847122452014-02-11T05:00:00.000-08:002014-02-11T05:00:08.532-08:00Just Another Marathon Monday<br />
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Mondays this semester are no joke. I spend a good portion of every Sunday planning, prepping and resting up for my worst day of the week. The schedule looks something like this:<br />
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5:30-7 - Masters swim. Coach has been giving me masters on Monday because that's really all I have time for. And this is the only time slot I can attend. Sometimes I manage to get up early and make it there, sometimes I…don't. There have been days where the extra sleep has felt more necessary, especially with the schedule for the rest of the day.<br />
Anytime between 7 and 12 - Seeing patients for our clinical trial visits. It all depends on what I am assigned when the schedule goes out on Friday afternoon. This week I was assigned to run two hour-long patient visits at 8:30 am and 10am, but I had to be at work by 8 to get their files from the lab and go to clinic from there.<br />
12-1 - First class of the day: department colloquium. Weekly presentations, either a professor in the department or an outside speaker.<br />
1-2 - Race home and walk the dogs, then race back to campus<br />
2-3 - Genetics/genomics class<br />
3-4 - Grad student recitation for the colloquium. A chance to ask questions of the week's speaker. Graded on participation and a paper written about one of the talks.<br />
4-5 - Grad student recitation for the genetics/genomics class. Each grad student presents a paper and leads a discussion about it.<br />
5-9 - I teach physiology lab during this time slot. I'm lucky I got a great group of students who make it fun. And also that they are understanding about <strike>how insanely caffeinated I am at that point </strike>being at the end of my long days.<br />
9-?? - When I am done teaching, I come home, give the dogs their evening walk and dinner, sit on the couch, force food into my mouth, and try to decompress enough to fall asleep. <br />
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Clearly Tuesday-Friday have a lot of making-up to do for Mondays.Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-38110543523942330822014-02-10T04:30:00.000-08:002014-02-10T04:30:01.196-08:00Getting It Done<i>(2 blog posts in a row? It's a February miracle!)</i><br />
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Remarkably, I haven't had to add an awful lot to my winter running wardrobe to survive outdoors in a Colorado winter. I had tights, long sleeved tops, gloves, I just learned how to layer them. But thanks to <a href="http://everythinggood2day.blogspot.com/">Tea</a>, I did pick up one huge winter running tip: <a href="http://www.icespike.com/">Ice Spikes</a>. What a great, effective and inexpensive way to turn a pair of running shoes into shoes that will keep me upright on ice and snow (and snow on top of ice) without a lot of advanced gadgetry.<br />
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My Sunday long run in the ice and snow was at a far faster pace than I could have done without added support - it was slippery out there with a layer of fresh snow on top of the old frozen-melted-refrozen stuff. I'm getting better and better at identifying non-human footprints in the snow too :) Tromping around our future property last week, Jeff and I saw lots of deer and rabbit tracks, as well as some coyote poop. On my long run on the trail, I saw more deer, bunny, lots of dogs (of course), and some very clear raccoon prints (shown below). <br />
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Jeff has gone back to Arizona until our closing date on the house. In the meantime I get to ride out the last 6 weeks of winter here and coordinate the small stuff, like movers, renting a PO box for our future house (no mail delivery out there), etc. Boulder winters are mostly quite enjoyable, with lots of sunshine and reasonably warm days even after a dump of snow (a FAR cry from my days in Chicago). We've only experienced 2 weeks of stupid-cold temps (one in December and one this last week) - my threshold being that when it's so cold the dogs can barely walk much less do their business (the day of -10 degrees, everyone went on poop strike) and I get close to frostbite no matter how many layers I wear, this is no longer fun. Thankfully we don't get a lot of that here and I'm <strike>hiring a voodoo priestess</strike> optimistic that we'll get through the next month and a half with pretty snow and more moderate (i.e. highs above 15 degrees) temperatures.Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-69081830341192860262014-02-09T07:19:00.003-08:002014-02-09T07:19:45.502-08:00That Run Isn't Going To Do ItselfI figured I'd write a blog post/update on life while I delay the start of my Sunday morning bike-run juuuuuust a little bit longer. I fell off the wagon hard this week. Jeff came to visit to handle some house-related tasks (more on that in a moment) and I had a very stressful workweek including a genomics/genetics midterm and I started feeling lousy and overtired and on the verge of sick so yadda yadda my workouts fell off the map for a few days as I just tried to stay afloat. And I'm ok with it…as I mentioned about balance in my previous post, I'm doing my best to find the sweet spot where I can stay healthy while managing a lot; occasionally it's bound to happen. I've put together a string of pretty good weeks though so that's the best I can ask for at this point. Today, I get back on track, even if it means pulling out the shoes with the Ice Spikes and running in the snow and ice.<br />
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Side note: Today was the first time I slipped and fell in snow/ice. But I managed to keep ahold of my coffee and bag of dog poop and just land on my butt in a pile of old snow. #winning<br />
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In case it hasn't become apparent, we are under contract on a house! We close and move in in less than 6 weeks. We had the inspection this week and it went well…mostly minor things that need fixing and likely nearly all of it we will wait to do on our own after moving in. There are a few things we plan to change after living in the house a while (master bathroom layout) but otherwise it's so very much our dream home - finally! - and we can enjoy it right away. <br />
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So we will have a very cool mountain home on some land near Lyons, Colorado by spring! I've got a pedigree on our land starting with the US Land Grant Office in 1891 and we learned this week that our end of the valley is the site of an old west ghost town, a former quarry boomtown of reasonable size. The dogs are going to LOVE it. My commute will certainly be longer than the 2 miles I have now but the driving will be much more reasonable than the mountain driving I was expecting to have with us looking up near Nederland, Ward, etc - there will be very little descending and mostly just flat highway driving. If I want to run from my house, I'll have miles of super-low-traffic dirt road to run on! And once you get to the paved road, there is fabulous cycling right away. Mostly we are just so excited for the quiet…the amazing quiet and the dark - the stars should be amazing at night!!<br />
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In the meantime, I need to get through the rest of winter. I don't think I'll have any problem staying busy. Between work and school and training, my weekdays are filled to the brim. Stan and I have a dog show coming up, I've got my first race of the year in 2 weeks, and I'll have my first tri of the year under my belt before the move! Oh and I think there's a beer festival in there somewhere too…it is Boulder after all!<br />
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Have a nice Sunday!<br />
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<br />Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-60624229184148823692014-01-25T07:38:00.003-08:002014-01-25T07:38:51.987-08:00Something Old, Something NewGoing into a new season of racing and a new year of life, there are always new things to try and changes to be made, as well as things that should remain untouched! A few of these things that have been on my mind...<br />
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<a href="http://elizabethfedofsky.blogspot.com/">The ELF</a> - Some people seem to change coaches as often as they change underpants - I'm not one of them. Why mess with success and what works? 5 years of setting PRs and developing as an athlete and she still surprises me with new and inventive ways to push myself and suffer and improve.<br />
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<a href="http://osmonutrition.com/">Osmo</a> - As a physiologist in training, I've read the research and the argument for gender-specific fueling/recovery made by Stacy Sims is beyond compelling. As an athlete, the data resonates quite strongly with my own experiences training and racing. So I'm quite excited to try Osmo nutrition products this year and see how it goes!<br />
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Home Sweet Home - With any luck, we should be in our very own house in Colorado in a couple more months. I'll get to pack up my stuff and move - yet again - but I will finally be living with my husband and Puck again too!<br />
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Races - Given that I live in a new state 1000 miles away from my hometown, it's no surprise that every one of my races this year is brand-spanking-new to me. New people to race against, new courses to tackle, lots of fresh territory to explore! (The only thing I've come close to having familiarity with is SOMA, where I once raced the old Quarterman as one of my very first triathlons)<br />
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Time Management - It's old news that I'm chronically over scheduled. With a full-time lab job plus classes and teaching AND triathlon training AND dogs, I'm getting plenty of practice putting my time management skills to work. I find I'm doing more of my training in the evenings after I get home and walk the dogs (I was always a morning-only exerciser!) - in particular, it's been nice to swim around 8pm when the pool is empty and then drink a recovery smoothie and sleep like the dead! <br />
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Soaking It All In - I live in one of the most beautiful places around and I can't let that go unappreciated! In the past I've been challenged in terms of taking the time to relax (possibly a chronic problem with Type A triathletes) but it's critical when I spend most of my time working so hard at school. One of the ways I'm trying to balance all of my commitments is by leaving weekends open and not entering a lot of dog events (at least for now, when we barely find any time to train) - it gives me an opportunity to catch up and recharge and do spontaneous fun things. Last weekend I visited Lyons with the dogs (twice) and went to Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park for the first time. I try to plan at least one fun hike and outing for the dogs every weekend, after all of my training is done. <br />
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2014 is looking pretty special so far!Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-29964549135630884862014-01-16T07:29:00.002-08:002014-01-16T07:29:27.046-08:00Snow Days<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
While Jeff and Puck were here visiting, we got a big dump of snow. Which meant lots of fun and snow-hiking for the dogs, especially Puck who had never seen any before. We also learned Stanley loves to catch snowballs and is quite good at it!</div>
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<br />Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-8659283680885235012014-01-11T16:36:00.000-08:002014-01-11T16:44:30.991-08:00Bring on 2014!!!I happily started 2014 in the pool, shortly after the gym opened on New Years Day. For most of the 90 minutes, I was the only one in the pool and I couldn't keep the smile off my face when it started snowing! Nothing beats swimming outdoors with Flatiron views - pinch me!<br />
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Training has otherwise been going well. I swim, I bike, I run, I plank/pushup/etc and I know that all this less-than-sexy work lays the foundation for a solid season. My first bike test in ~10 months was today and it was…not exactly stellar. But I've been marathon training, not biking, and I know with actual application of force to pedals regularly, I will see improvements. <br />
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Lab/clinic work has been busy but life has felt quiet without classes to attend or teach. All of that changes on Monday so I'm doing my best to pull my shit together in a hurry.<br />
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Jeff and Puck came to visit shortly after New Years and Puck got to see his very first snow though, I will try to post some photos and video of the whole thing. He's having a blast here and it's nice to have the whole family together. Mostly we've spent the week house hunting - talk about an exhausting process! Our first day out driving around showed us just how bad the houses can be on beautiful properties (and at too high a price to knock down and rebuild). Our second day visiting homes with the realtor resulted in at least one possible target, though we'd ideally still like to be closer to Boulder. Think good thoughts as we head out for another round of homes tomorrow!<br />
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As it's already nearly mid-January, I have put the race schedule for the year on the sidebar. Highlights? Duathlon Nationals in July and a return to the 1/2IM distance in October. I had to find a race that really pulled at me in order to do that and SOMA is it - I was supposed to race SOMA a couple years ago when the Tempe Town Lake dam broke and the race was cancelled. It's been calling my name ever since!<br />
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Happy new year!Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-77056905603518411192013-12-31T18:07:00.003-08:002013-12-31T18:19:19.894-08:002013 In ReviewI'm less interested in recapping miles and races this year and more interested in remembering the amazing things that made 2013 memorable. It had its ups and it had its downs but it was one hell of a year!<br />
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January - we spent <a href="http://muppetdogs.blogspot.com/2013/01/days-1-and-2-california-to-nicaragua.html">2 amazing weeks</a> biking through Central America as part of the grand prize I'd won in a vegan sports nutrition product sweepstakes. Trip of a lifetime.<br />
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February - I coughed up<a href="http://muppetdogs.blogspot.com/2013/02/confession-time.html"> the big news that I was moving to Boulder</a> and <a href="http://muppetdogs.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-post-nearly-as-long-as-process.html">explained the process </a>in excruciating detail.<br />
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March - I puked my way to a new <a href="http://muppetdogs.blogspot.com/2013/03/adventures-in-training.html">personal best power</a> on the bike.<br />
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April - we visited <a href="http://muppetdogs.blogspot.com/2013/04/fluffy-puppies-and-happy-thoughts.html">Stanley's sister's adorable puppies</a> and <a href="http://muppetdogs.blogspot.com/2013/04/in-other-news.html">celebrated a birthday for a special do</a>g friend.<br />
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May - I was <a href="http://muppetdogs.blogspot.com/2013/05/alcatraz-sharkfest.html">not eaten by sharks</a>.<br />
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June - <a href="http://muppetdogs.blogspot.com/2013/06/woofstock.html">Woofstock</a>, baby.<br />
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July - We made our last trip to the beach with our best friends. Little did we know we would lose 2 of them so soon afterwards :( We said <a href="http://muppetdogs.blogspot.com/2013/07/happy-trails.html">goodbye to C</a>alifornia and hit the road for Colorado. <br />
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August - I moved in to our new home in Boulder, sent my husband on a plane home and <a href="http://muppetdogs.blogspot.com/2013/08/back-to-our-regularly-scheduled.html">fell in love with everything Colorado</a>. Also, it was hot. Really hot.<br />
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September - Jeff visited. It was still hot. Then it started raining and thus commenced the great <a href="http://muppetdogs.blogspot.com/2013/10/flooded.html">Boulder Flood of 2013</a>. We evacuated to three different hotels at different points in September. I should teach a class on this.<br />
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October - We <a href="http://muppetdogs.blogspot.com/2013/10/catching-up.html">moved into a new home</a> after the final straw with the flood and old apartment. Jeff visited - it was hot again! I continued to train for a marathon <a href="http://muppetdogs.blogspot.com/2013/10/boulder-life-goes-on.html">in the prettiest place on earth, got chased by a cow, we got our first snow, and I did science</a>.<br />
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Also…my mom came to visit Colorado for the first time and we went <a href="http://muppetdogs.blogspot.com/2013/11/scenes-around-boulder-moms-photos.html">all over sightseeing</a>. No, <a href="http://muppetdogs.blogspot.com/2013/11/pikes-peak-moms-photos.html">really</a>. <a href="http://muppetdogs.blogspot.com/2013/11/nederlandindian-peaks-wildernessboulder.html">Really</a>.<br />
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November - I <a href="http://muppetdogs.blogspot.com/2013/11/thug-life.html">flew home and surprised Jeff and my family</a> as he packed up our house. I ran my last 20-miler at sea level and learned how awesome it is to live at altitude. We sold our house in one day on the market.<br />
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December - <a href="http://muppetdogs.blogspot.com/2013/12/tucson-marathon-race-report.html">I ran a marathon</a>. Survived finals week and got As in my classes, spent 3 weeks eating like an asshole, and miraculously got back in the pool and on my bike. <br />
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If you're still reading and you care about the racing/mileage crap…<br />
I swam 224,171 yards (~128.8 miles), biked 2376.17 miles, ran 903.91 miles, did a little over 26 hours of strength work, and got faster than ever on my lowest mileage in ~5 years. I raced and podiumed in 2 duathlons and successfully swam from Alcatraz to San Francisco. I started tri season well with a 4th place in AG, then podiumed in the next 2 races and crashed and burned in my first outing at AG nationals. I ran 4 run races, made the podium in 3 of them and PRed the shit out of the last one. Life was a bit hairy this year but I managed some huge improvements and I'm happy to put this racing year to bed and focus on the next one.<br />
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With that, I'm off to drink sparkling cider and eat spinach for dinner, hang with the dogs, and go to bed at 9pm. 2014 kicks off early and I need to be well rested!Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-80396913230608091502013-12-29T06:49:00.003-08:002013-12-29T11:37:03.794-08:00Do You Believe in Miracles?Before Christmas, I joined the gym next door to my apartment. For the new year of training, I can't have any excuses to miss swims or other workouts - the masters group I joined when I moved here simply doesn't have convenient (EARLY morning) hours for me and the city pool lap swim hours are a bit too limited with my work schedule, plus if we're experiencing "weather" it's hard to get myself in a car and drive there. Instead I now have access to an OUTDOOR pool, a block from home, with a hot tub and sauna and ridiculous number of other amenities. I swam nearly as much in my 3 weeks of off-season as I did in the previous 3 months of marathon training combined. <br />
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Miracle. (And it's truly that nice of a pool)<br />
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The beardies and I are back home in Boulder after a week in Arizona visiting Jeff and Puck. We survived the 13 hour, 880 mile drive back and beat the snow to Boulder by about 5 minutes. And none of the<a href="http://www.newscastic.com/news/10-ways-albuquerque-drivers-are-actually-the-worst-in-the-world-1110814/"> crazy New Mexico drivers</a> managed to kill us either.<br />
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Miracle.<br />
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I was thinking about holiday miracles earlier this week, when I consumed three rather large vodka-based beverages while out at sushi dinner with Jeff and then three large beers with Jeff and Nigel after. And woke up feeling…amazing. Like seriously, no hangover, all hydrated and everything. And then busted out my longest swim in ages.<br />
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Miracle for sure.<br />
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While visiting Arizona this week, I also got back on my bike, outdoors, for the first time in…well, months. Of course we started with a ride up a (small) mountain - I assumed I'd be far off the back of the boys, sucking wind and cursing life. Instead, I felt FABULOUS and strong right on up that mountain. I rode with Jeff on Christmas and felt super as well.<br />
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(Living at elevation and coming down to sea level is a) Miracle.<br />
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After 3 weeks of eating a "Western" diet (high fat high sugar), I've managed not to die.<br />
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Absolutely a miracle.<br />
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Training starts up again tomorrow so today I return to vegetables and healthier eating. I've never missed something so badly in my life!Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-73194009595122513552013-12-25T16:16:00.002-08:002013-12-25T16:16:15.229-08:00Merry Christmas!From Stanley, Max and Puck<br />
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<br />Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-89528353293911384702013-12-17T16:48:00.000-08:002013-12-17T16:48:50.598-08:00Tucson Marathon Race ReportWhen I left Boulder last Saturday morning, after a 3:45am alarm (HOLYMOTHEROFGODITSTOODAMNEARLY), it was -5 degrees out. We'd been dealing with a weeklong cold snap that necessitated boots and coats for dogs for every single walk plus a ridiculous amount of bundling up for me. Every. Single. Walk. For the most part I was just grateful I made it to the airport without encountering any ice. And to think I was flying somewhere where everyone had been complaining about cold…compared to Colorado, I was looking at it as t-shirt weather (more on this later).<br />
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I flew to Phoenix where Jeff and Puck picked me up and we road tripped about 90 miles down the road to the Tucson area. Got through the line at the busiest Starbucks ever, spent 5 minutes at packet pickup, had lunch and spent the afternoon relaxing in our hotel. All the while eating and eating and trying to keep to bland white foods (I am not very good at this). I had an early dinner and was off to bed around 8:30, with yet another 3:45 alarm on tap. <br />
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I practice my pre-race routines for every long workout so they really don't tend to be stressful or different for me on race morning. I applied sunblock, lubed up, dressed, put my new throwaway sweats on over my race clothes, and started chugging caffeine as Jeff drove me to the high school that served as the bus depot for transit to the start line, way up the back side of Mount Lemmon. I made friends with my seat mate who was doing her very first marathon and was very nervous. I wasn't nervous at all, but I knew I was trained and ready for this and I had a very good idea of what kind of PR we were talking about.<br />
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It was not especially warm at the start, probably 28-30 degrees with a STRONG wind and an occasional drop of something frozen from the sky. I reminded myself that I've done all my long running in Boulder in a sports bra and a pair of shorts, even when it was 35 or 40 degrees out, and this was WARM compared to when I left! Eventually it was time to line up at the start - I set myself up around what seemed like the appropriate pace groups, took off my sweatpants, and decided to keep my fleece till the 1st aid station. <br />
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An anthem, a little fanfare, and we were off! The first few miles were pretty fast as we were rolling up and down but mostly down, and the pace group leader took off like a bat out of hell, at a much faster pace than the time goal she carried. Still I kept the effort feeling easy and backed off - with 90% of the pace group - when it didn't. By the aid station at mile 2, I was ready to shed my fleece and settle in for the long haul.<br />
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Miles 1-5: 7:55, 8:22, 7:52, 8:16, 8:12<br />
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After 5 miles we turned out onto the bigger state highway and the course leveled out a bit, with less obvious rollers. I felt pretty good and just kept my effort steady and my nutrition/hydration on schedule.</div>
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Miles 6-10: 7:52, 7:59, 8:16, 8:15, 8:20</div>
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Just before the 10 mile mark, we took a turn onto Biosphere Road and began the long slog upward to turn around at the gates of the Biosphere. As I got closer, I wondered what had happened to that 3:40 pace leader. I saw the 3:30 pace leader go by the other direction when I was nearing the turnaround and 30 seconds behind him there she was! Um…pretty sure you aren't supposed to be that far up the 3:30 group's ass at mile 12 - no wonder she'd lost everyone that followed her! </div>
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We turned around at mile 12 and rolled up and down back to the highway, reaching it a bit after the 13.1 mile mark. I was probably at my lowest point here…stomach feeling a bit queasy, legs tired and just tired of running into the darned headwind! I made a restroom stop around mile 15 and upped my water intake - both things I think paid off down the line. I should add despite the wind and all I was never cold! I got a lot of funny looks for not wearing as much as everyone else but I was comfortable and it was probably like 45 most of the day - WAY warmer than where I had come from!<br />
Miles 11-15: 8:44, 8:52, 8:26, 8:42, 8:35<br />
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From Biosphere Road I knew we had about 7 miles before we turned off the highway. My legs were starting to hurt - A LOT - but I just focused on strong form and keeping my cadence high. "Your legs are going to hurt regardless. So make them hurt faster." The wind continued to be strong in our faces and where possible I drafted off big dudes. Still it seemed like no one was quite going my pace - either I passed them or they surged past me and then I would repass them at aid stations. The road rolled up and down and you never quite could tell what was coming off in the distance until you got there (the joy of open desert scenery).<br />
Miles 16-19: 9:06, 8:25, 8:46, 8:44<br />
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Right about at mile 20, something awesome happened - I started feeling FABULOUS. I may not have been moving a whole lot faster but I got a smile on my face and I started passing a lot of people. I knew there were still some tough parts to go but I was on the home stretch. I knew on this newly revised course, there was a steep hill coming around mile 22.5 but I couldn't see it - then we turned a corner and OH YEAH that's a big one. Still it was not all that different than this one hill I ran all fall on the Boulder Marathon course, back on dirt roads near Nelson Road. So just control breathing and pace, lean forward and keep running till the top - where I was rewarded by a lovely downhill that I absolutely hammered (because why not? only 3 miles to go and it's not like I'm saving my legs for anything!).<br />
Miles 20-24: 8:37, 8:46, 8:54, 9:05, 8:47<br />
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The last couple miles were not the most fun but I knew I was almost there and Jeff and Puck would be waiting for me at the finish. We also caught up with some of the 19-milers and half-marathoners at this point so the course got busier. I just kept looking for that last turn!!! Finally I saw the crowd and the turn into the fire station for the finish chute. I spotted Jeff and Puck up on a grassy hill (I had promised to not talk to him when I saw him or Puck would notice me and probably rip Jeff's arm off trying to join me on course) and gave him a quick wave as I went by. Just a few more seconds of running and I was done.</div>
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Miles 25-26.2 (or, um, 26.32 if you're me): 8:50, 8:46, and an 8:28 pace for the last 1/3 of a mile.</div>
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After I took a few moments to collect myself (look, ma, no puke!), I hobbled over to the timing table to double-check on my time. Yes, indeed - 3:44:13 - for a 1:02:01 PR over my best open marathon and a 43:44 PR over my best IM marathon. 14th/75 in 35-39 women and 70th/409 women overall.<br />
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I knew it was going to hurt and it certainly delivered - but Coach and I have worked long and hard on mental management of pain and it paid off. Given the changing terrain of the course, my effort was steady and I stuck to my plan well - I knew the downhill miles would be fast and the uphill ones not so much so I conserved well. That is BY FAR the best I've ever run after 20 miles in a marathon/IM marathon and Coach was in my head all the way keeping me strong and focused. <br />
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I hobbled the 1/2 mile to the car (and I'm sure provided much entertainment to spectators) and Facebooked right about that time: "No. More. Marathons." Jeff graciously handed me a chocolate milk and drove me back to Phoenix, where I had time to shower and have a meal before my long-delayed flight. First burger in months, for the win! With that, the off season is officially upon me! I'm doing my best to only eat 4 food groups - beer, bacon, cheese and chocolate. It's a tough job but someone has to do it.<br />
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Thanks for all the well wishes!!! I thought about each of you (and your predictions haha) as I ran. Of the people who didn't know insider info like my training run times (and my 1/2 PR of 1:44 from a 1/2IM in 2012), <a href="http://tri-tyna.blogspot.com/">Krystyna</a> was the big prediction winner!<br />
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PS - this past weekend I got a message from a former tri club teammate who said he ran a trail race with a girl who had run Tucson the weekend before and she mentioned how cold it was and there was this one crazy girl in a sports bra. A blue sports bra! Hahahahahahaha.Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-86350383771211919962013-12-08T15:08:00.001-08:002013-12-08T15:08:22.810-08:003:44:13Ow.Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-80774533018997595702013-12-03T06:00:00.000-08:002013-12-03T06:00:00.550-08:00Me and the MarathonI started running on Thanksgiving Day 2005. I ran my first half-marathon 5 months later and my first marathon 14 months later. Looking back, perhaps this was not a recipe for success, in terms of letting my body adapt to running a bit more slowly but most of us aren't all that smart when we start out in these things.<br />
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Rock N Roll Arizona 2007 - 4:46:14<br />
Raging IT band issues leading into the race, both 20 mile runs in my build done in excruciating pain (and one of them cut short as a result). Didn't run most of my taper and did the race with a lot of ibuprofen but no pain at all. Never had an IT band problem again. *too much too soon*<br />
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Big Sur International Marathon 2007 - 4:53:40<br />
3 months after the first marathon, on my 30th birthday as a celebration! Super hilly course, only goal was to finish happy and I did. Most beautiful marathon course ever.<br />
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Rock N Roll Arizona 2008 - 4:58:54<br />
Back a year later, super trained and ready for a big PR. Then I got sick 8 miles into the race and walked a good portion of the rest of it. That's what you get for spending time in the ER with a family member during flu season during your taper.<br />
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Ironman Arizona 2009 - 5:03:00<br />
First Ironman ever, plenty of walking in the back half. GI issues galore.<br />
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Ironman Arizona 2011 - 4:50:57<br />
Second Ironman, more careful pacing, still some walking in the later miles.<br />
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Ironman Canada 2012 - 4:27:57<br />
Far hillier IM course than the first two, only walked aid stations in the back half of the course. Paced it slow but steady and PRed a marathon for the first time in 5+ years.<br />
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Tucson Marathon 2013 - ?????<br />
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With all of that in mind, I'll take your bets on what my time will be! Winner wins…the joy of being right.Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913229705915850392.post-23857357073776801162013-11-28T08:00:00.003-08:002013-11-28T08:00:59.168-08:00Long Run MusingsIt's late in the 2nd week of taper and I'm halfway between rested and insane. The dogs and I drove through 900 miles of snowstorms to make it to Arizona for Thanksgiving and reunite the family - that said, I'm really looking forward to being back in Colorado. I already miss the mountains and smaller-town life.<br />
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My last *longish* run was a split affair - 6.5 miles in the morning, 8.5+ in the afternoon. I stupidly overdressed for the first run and cooked through the entire thing wearing long sleeves and tights when it was at least 40 and sunny out. I smartly went out for the afternoon run in sports bra and shorts (side note: this has been the year that I stopped caring about people seeing my stomach and just went for it - Coach killed me on far too many track workouts where I overheated no matter what I wore and have opted for comfort) and hit race pace well.<br />
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I rolled into Scottsdale on Saturday night in the midst of various rain and snow storms and had my first taper-long run on Sunday morning. It was funny to see the Arizonans wearing parkas while I ran in, again, a sports bra and shorts, even while it rained, but it was totally comfortable and if anything I had to hold back on my pace. I even got to run through ankle deep water from some of the flooding they've been having here (am I starting to feel like a flood magnet or what?). Lower elevation + the legs are starting to feel rested = we are getting there!<br />
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While everyone else is Turkey Trotting today, I'll be riding my bike because that's the kind of thing we do during taper. And because I ran my ass off at the track yesterday followed by enough squats and lunges that I'm having to help myself get in and out of chairs today. Is it race day yet?<br />
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Happy Thanksgiving and thank you to my family, my friends, my coworkers and classmates, and my coach for all the love and support all year!Mollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228735227119427610noreply@blogger.com4