Ironman Wisconsin - The Journey Part 2

Dear Readers,

With just under 37 weeks to the Ironman I thought I would post another update. Training programs are beginning. I do not plan on paying for a training group, rather do a program on my own. I have one picked out that's a 34 week program, and starts mid-January. Doing it on my own is what's best for me so i can modify to fit my 2011 racing schedule.

Though still subject to change here is what I'm looking at in 2011 for races:
1/30 Miami Marathon
4/18 Boston Marathon
5/20 American Triple T - Super Sprint Tri
5/21 AM: American Triple T - Olympic Tri
5/21 PM: American Triple T - Olympic Tri
5/22: American Triple T - Half Ironman
5/31: Vermont City Marathon
9/11: THE IRONMAN
TBD: Winter Marathon

These races put me at 386.34 miles raced. Which- with my goal in 2011 to raise $11 per mile raced, it means i have to raise $4,249.74.

Now- it would be in my best interest to have another Half Ironman in July or August for training purposes of the Ironman. In order to add that in the schedule I NEED YOUR HELP.

Because I vowed to raise $11 per mile raced, I have to raise approximately $800 more in order to add another half ironman.

Visit my Team DetermiNaiton page at : http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/DetermiNation/DNFY11IL?px=4909726&pg=personal&fr_id=35207

If I can get enough money raised in the first half of 2011, I'll add another Half Ironman to better my Journey.

Thanks!

Tara

**Please note it mentions i'm raising money for the Chicago Marathon, that's because I want the funds I raise to be recognized for Team DetermiNation Chicago rather than the National Level- it all goes to the same place, but I want Chicago to have the recognition since it's those in Chicago who inspired me.

CARDIO VACATION

I’m trying a little experiment that I decided is part of prepping for Ironman Training. In 2010, I logged over 5,000 miles running, biking and swimming. As my blog says, I am ADDICTED to endurance. As 2010 is coming to an end, and I have recently been hit with an ear infection that seems to be a little beyond ‘swimmer’s ear’ it’s a good time and idea to rest. It’s time for a CARDIO VACATION!

The idea behind my cardio vacation is I will take a full 7 days off of cardio (or maybe just biking, running and swimming?). My cardio vacation started, Sunday Dec. 18th.

What does one who spends a big chunk of their free time biking/running/swimming do when they are on a Cardio Vacation? This is what this blog entry is all about. I’m curious if I will go stir crazy. I believe I haven’t taken more than 2 days off running since Jen’s Bachelorette party in Vegas, April 2008.


And now the Cardio Vacation Blog:


Day 1: Sunday. Since my ear was super bothersome, I took a day of rest. This doesn’t differ from days that I might take off because I’m extremely hungover. However, this time, I wasn’t extremely hungover, just resting.

Day 2: Monday Morning: Slept in (til 7:30 instead of 5:30-6am wake up). Gotta do the push-up challenge (yes I’m still doing that- I just like to not move from Week 2 day 3 )

Evening: Lindsey offered a private class to some of us at her place. This was THE BEST yoga class of 2010. I thought, maybe I should add another yoga class in on my time off. Even if it’s on my own, with Joyce’s instruction cd she made prior to moving to New York.
After Yoga, I went over to Keri’s to watch the Bears game. I got home around 10:30pm and didn’t feel guilty because guess what- I get to sleep in on Tuesday! I thought, maybe I should add another yoga class in on my time off. Even if it’s on my own, with Joyce’s instruction cd she made prior to moving to New York.

Day 3: Tuesday Morning: Slept in. Had breakfast at home, that didn’t consist of a protein bar. What a concept.
Evening: Starting to feel gross.Bulls game with Mayer Brown- Thinking- maybe I shouldn’t drink much so I can wake up early tomorrow and do Joyce’s yoga CD. I would like to go to some dance class/aerobics class Wednesday night, but I scheduled a Massage at 5:00pm. I really should let the goodness of that soak in. ..Thursday…I wonder if there are still classes available on the 23rd? I wonder if I can find anything around my Parent’s house- HA that’s a joke. Maybe I should allow myself a 6 day rest and on the 7th day- run again? What if I forget how to run?

Day 4: Wednesday Morning: Though Anxious yesterday…still slept in. But did the push up challenge norm.

Evening: Massage!!!! Then walked to pick up my car from the shop, and then… watched a movie and asleep by 9:30. So nice! I’m actually enjoying this. I’m not as hungry but still… I’m starting to get a little nervous about weight gain.

Day 5: Thursday Morning: Decided to walk the stairs in my building up and down, just two times. Makes me feel a little less lazy.

Evening: Was looking into some flirty girl fitness classes, but everyone is out of town already, so I just made plans to go to a class there next week with Keri. The opportunity presented itself to go back to Wisconsin early so I first went shopping at Akira (Merry Christmas to me- Love, Mom and Dad), then made my way back to Wisconsin.

Day 6: Friday Morning: This is the tricky part, I am in Wisconsin. Facilities to workout are limited, and food in my mom’s fridge is plentiful. I decided to have a ‘Tara Made’ aerobics class. LOTS of fun, it’s kind of like dance parties with my niece. Also did the push up challenge and some abs. I’m really close to shortening Cardio Vacation to 6 days long. I will do my best to hold off one more day.

Evening: It was snowing large flakes, which made me really want to run. I figured, I might as well go for a walk. So Mariah Carey’s 2010 Christmas Music andn I went for a winter wonder walk….then it was Christmas Eve :)

Day 7: Saturday: Christmas Day- the Final Day. I decided to continue on with my aerobic routine fun and did that for an hour. Then I found my mom's ab roller....oooh fun! :p I thought about going for a walk, but I feared I might just start running, and I’m so close to finished with this Cardio Vacation, I decided to stay in and eat some cookies.
Day 8: Cardio Vacation is over. I had to define Cardio as Run, Bike or Swim because if I became 100% Sedentary, I really would not have been a nice person. It was a nice 7 days off to not be worried about mileage, but I am ready to run again. I think I’m still not going to log my miles for the remainder of the year. We’ll start a whole new calendar in the New Year.


…now time to go on an 18 to 20 mile run :).

Raise Your Glass

Raise Your Glass
Las Vegas, NV - State 21
4:14:49

Running a marathon in every state creates a risk of getting bored. You can only PR so many times. So what has been my strategy to keep things interesting? Well, I add an ultra here or there and I started to also complete triathlons. I finally qualified for Boston, so what next? I think my future will one day include a 100 miler, and of course I will go back to trying to get a new PR. BUT for state 21, it was time to have some fun.

If you were to ask most marathoners, especially first timers, what are the basics of preparation, I'm sure some would say they give up drinking for a bit before and if they don't give up the drinking for a long time, they certainly would say you don't drink the night before a race. Sleep would rank up there in importance. And then of course your nutrition and hydration during is key.

If you don't take those four factors seriously (Sleep, Soberness, Nutrition and Hydration), you put yourself at a greater risk of having a bad race, and potentially not finishing. Well, I just have to say: 'Raise your Glass if you are wrong in all the right ways" I most certainly was wrong in all the right ways in Vegas.

While most stay on the strip when in Vegas, my co-worker, Lily offered up her time share which was off the strip near the Palms, and provided a free shuttle service that runs every 30 minutes between the Time Share and Planet Hollywood. I arrived on Friday, and Ashleigh and Nate drove in from San Diego. The moment I stepped off the plane I grabbed a drink waiting for Ash and Nate to pick me up from the airport (okay partial lie, I had some work to take care of first, then i put a dollar in a slot machine...THEN I got my Triple Shot Vodka Red bull drink).

We spent most of our day at the Venetian and Caesar’s Palace. We didn't excessively drink, but we drank enough to keep a steady level of drunkenness. We stocked up our fridge with all sorts of liquids for the weekend then we went out for dinner. I'm sure I would have done just fine with one martini not two, but....Nate decided a second was in order.

Friday night was a good night for sleep, I slept maybe 6 hours. When I woke up I wasn't feeling the greatest from the day before. I managed to get a 4 mile run in but not without feeling extremely sick. So I decided Saturday would be a beer day.

Back track to training: On my 18 mile run I realized that if I went out the night before a run, I started my run strong. But once the hangover hit, I had to slow down, and even walk. With the 20 miler, I got a good night's sleep, and got drunk on the run, and it was a great run (Thanks for joining Sheila and Veronica, and Rachel A- Thanks for bringing me beer refills on the path!). What I learned in training was this: I must stay drunk on the entire run, otherwise it's game over.

There was a lot of walking going on Saturday as we were under the impression the Expo was at the Mandalay Bay (read directions Tara!). We Casino jumped from the Excalibur, to the Luxor to Mandalay Bay (all the while playing the slots- being conservative as I am, I broke even on that round). The Expo was actually at Sand Expo which is connected to the Venetian, so we once again spent a great amount of time at the Venetian (I'm actually a pro at finding my way around there by now!). I made it through the expo pretty quickly and then we had lunch.

Rather than going out too hard on Saturday night, we decided to go see David Spade. This was a great idea, because I was still doing the goal of Vegas (drinking), but it wasn't excess, and I had been on my feet long enough for the day that it was good to sit for awhile. After dinner, we did a little more casino hopping at Harrah's and Planet Hollywood. I was in bed by 12:30-1ish giving me maybe 4 hours of sleep before the Marathon.

My Alarm went off and I kept to most of my normal morning routine: An hour to wake up, move around, do my sit-ups (it's a mental thing where I think if I activate the core before the long run, I will have a good run), and have breakfast. As this is a drunk run, breakfast included a beer.

I planned on meeting up with Evelio at the start and hope to literally run into Tony on the run. Evelio was easy to find. The gun went off at 7am but we started with Coral 12 so it took some time to get to the start. I managed to jump out of the coral and go to the bathroom before we started. I handed Evelio my beer when I did this which I then thought. that could be disastrous... I might lose him and never see my beer again! Luckily I found him within a minute or two of the run (running fast where I'm sure people thought I was crazy).

It's amazing how long the strip really is, but you don't realize it until you are running it. Around mile 3, Tony and I were e-mailing trying to find each other (yes e-mail...that's what Tony does I guess because I attempted to call and he wouldn't pick up). He was ahead of us then. I was running low on beer already, but I figured I would find someone on the run giving away beer. Around mile 5 there was a beer stand, but we didn't see it until we passed it and I didn't think much of it thinking, this is Vegas, I'm sure there will be more (wrong).

Since I had my phone out e-mailing Tony, I was also getting work e-mails. Alice was busy working (it’s quarterly reporting season). I almost wrote her so she could have a fun e-mail between all the work, but I was trying to minimize my phone use to just finding Tony and Ashleigh.

Ash and I had planned to find each other around mile 12 to give me another beer. However, we missed each other. I was 12 miles down with only 2 beers. Now I know it is ONLY 2 beers, but add running to two beers at 7am, after a night of drinking...that's enough to make you start to feel miserable when you don't have a third. Evelio saw the unpleasant Tara as I yelled at a runner for stopping right in front of me at a water station…I maneuvered around them but managed to get citomax dumped all over me by the volunteer and I just wasn't happy. So, he said it was time we make a stop when there is a place to buy some beer. This is a little harder on the second half. Though the first is up and down the strip (and to the old strip), the second part is all industrial and pretty bare. This is pretty common for marathons with halves.

We saw places we could stop at, but they were on the other side of the road where you have to cross over the race. I didn't want to draw any attention to people to make them think we were cheating, so we just had to make our way to the gas stations that were on the same side of the road. Finally at the 25K we were able to stop and fill up. I waited out by the race in hopes to see Tony pass as Evelio went on in the gas station. He ended up taking about 10 minutes to complete the transaction. As I waited, I received some comments from runners passing, like "what's wrong with you, you look fine and you are just standing there like a spectator!" When Evelio came out, I learned, he was joining in on the fun as he got himself a beer as well and put it in a 'to go' container. We finally saw Tony for the first time as we were passing in opposite directions on the out and back. At this moment I was very happy, and half way done with the current beer, singing Poker Face or some other Lady Gaga song- I don't remember which one the band was playing.

There were a lot of cheerleaders from high schools on the course. Of course, with the next beer fully consumed in 3 miles, I was not just running a marathon, but pretending I was a cheerleader, attempting toe touches (these cheerleaders loved me). At mile 18 we stopped at another gas station for a bathroom break and another refill. Somewhere along the way, Evelio and I decided Gus and Nutrition were not in order on this run. So the only thing I really consumed was the Beer, and a few water stops when I didn't have any beer (but maybe 5 water stops at max).

We continued on, and the last part of the marathon was pretty boring with out and backs on a frontage road. Lucky for me, I was not boring, and I did what I could to entertain myself and Evelio. We were breathing in the wonderful car exhaust air and making our way to finish. I had one more bathroom stop in there (usually I can sweat off the need to go to the bathroom- but apparently not when it's beer). We crossed the finish together (second marathon I've ever started and finished with one person) and I felt GREAT. I got a text from Caitlin, she saw me cross. Apparently she turned on the live feed just as I was crossing - now that's pretty cool!

The party didn't stop there though. Ash and Nate greeted me at the finish, took me back to our place and took off to avoid the Vegas to Cali traffic. I fully utilized what the timeshare had to offer (soak in the hot tub then read my book by the fire), and then I got ready for one final fun night in Vegas: The post race party. I swore off beer when I crossed the finish line, so it was back to Vodka. The post race party was at Encore - XS. I was so happy to make it to a club in Vegas and dance. I went with Evelio and his friends and I made friends there. They let us dance up on the platform with stripper poles, and I happened to find a girl who is a teacher at a studio like flirty girl fitness....so... she taught me some tricks on the pole, where I proceeded to make a fool of myself I'm sure, but it was so much fun. I don't know if I'm more sore from the marathon or from that pole- but my right arm is all bruised (I kept on my bracelets....silly me).

And yet still, the night wasn't over. I needed ot learn how to play Craps. I never got to see Mike Evans on the race, so we met up at the Mirage and I watched him lose some money (only after winning $600!). I do have to say, when I was rolling that dice, I made many people a lot of money- go me for rolling the dice! :)

I tend to make friends post marathon on the flights home. I met Jeff on the flight home from Fargo (he was also in Vegas but we never managed to meet up), and this time I made friends with Christine- from the suburbs of Chicago. ...an Ironman and Marathoner...like Jeff, with her own inspiring race stories.

This Marathon wasn't just about the race; it was about the entire weekend. It was about having a good time, about celebrating my accomplishments over the last 20 states. It was learning that I've managed to make the Marathon so routine, that even skipping the most important elements to preparation (Sleep, Soberness, Nutrition, Hydration), that I still can manage to complete it in a respectable time. Raise your Glass- Cheers!

I Gotta Feeling

I gotta feeling
Detroit Marathon
State #20
BOSTON QUALIFIER
3:40:32

It’s finally done! I’m going to Boston. 20 states completed from Oct 2005 to Oct 2010, improved by 1hr and 7minutes since the very first one. Just over a year ago I was fantasizing over breaking 4 hours. A year and a day prior to qualifying for Boston, I ran in Indiana, and broke 4 hours by a landslide and that set the idea/pace for Boston. 7 marathons (including Indiana) and 1 ultra marathon later…I finally did it. With those 8 races, 3 of them were completed in the last 8 weeks. My weekend long runs looked like this: 26.2, 10, 31.2, 12, 20, 10, 26.2.
The previous 7 weekend runs made me stronger, made me confident and ready to take on Boston with that last 26.2; High altitudes, mountains, ultra distances, trails, and on the 20 miler, a strong kick-it last mile at 7:31. I was ready. Maybe I was always physically ready, but the past 7 weeks, and the help of my friends made me mentally ready.

Mentioning a few (but not the only) that were with me (in spirit) on my run:
As I spent some extra time in the past few weeks with Caitlin in the ACS office helping get ready for the Chicago Marathon, she said to me “I’ve gotta feeling, Tara- this is it- Detroit is your run!” She was so positive in her words, I decided to believe her and took her words with me.
At the ACS team dinner, Kristin spoke once again. Her words and her actions ALWAYS inspire me. She is DetermiNation defined. She never says "I can’t” even with the most horrific obstacles put in her way.
Then there is Emily. She doesn’t like running, which is great since her cancer took her ability to run. You would never know she has a cancer survivor story because of her attitude. Like Kristin, she is left with the aftermath of killing cancer. She doesn’t baby herself and she doesn’t baby others. There is something about her spirits - I see it in her expectations for herself and her expectations for others: if you set a goal, you do it no excuses- just keep your eye on the target.
Then there is Alison- what can I say- she thinks I'm amazing just the way I am. ;) So in the back of my mind, I knew if I didn’t get Boston- That it’s okay. Her words, heart and spirit remind me to not put so much pressure on myself and enjoy it.
Now I have so many more friends that I could mention, and I will mention more in my story below as the story unfolds. But I wanted to showcase these 4 girls because they have something in common which inspire me for my new goal noted at the end of this. They are all the faces of Team DetermiNation with American Cancer Society.

The week before the race was the Chicago marathon. I was heavily involved with volunteer work from 4:15am until about 2pm on Sunday with the race. I planned on getting a good night sleep. But then Jen, sent me an e-mail just saying she really wanted to go out but both Andrea and I were busy- she wasn’t asking me to go out, she was just using me as a sounding board laying out her thoughts (as we do with friends). The thing is, is I know what it’s like when you just want to go out, have a few drinks and dance. So when she complained, I understood and I couldn’t let her stay in with the itch to go out (because I mean, come on- when we go out we always have fun- and who can turn down dancing?). So…I decided to sleep Saturday from 6pm until almost 10pm. Then we went out which meant I got home at 3am and was ready to volunteer by 4:15 am with a 15 minute nap in between. The day of volunteering went off so well I got this thought: If I qualify for Boston, I’m going to drunk run Vegas! How’s that for a little extra motivation?

Now let’s dive into Detroit. As I said, Caitlin had inserted confidence in me.. So, I vocalized that I was focused on Boston. I knew for 2011 Boston, it was kind of my last chance! This was a Bank of America sponsored race, and Kelly was my Hostess from the Mostest. Since I wasn’t in the Troy office on a regular basis, she made sure I was set up and in the loop with all the fun Bank of America Events. She also told me she had a feeling that this was the one for Boston. More positive energy!

Again, Kelly being the hostess with the mostest, made sure I got my other workouts in while staying in Detroit. We went to her gym before work on Friday and went to a spin class. I snapped at the spin instructor when he was going around the room increasing everyone’s resistance on the bike. Sorry to snap Buddy, but I had Boston on my mind- I wasn’t about to have a super killer workout 2 days before my race. On Saturday, Kelly and I ran and then went for a swim. I loved having her as a workout partner! She’s up for anything :)

Sunday morning we woke up at 4am, leaving at 5am. As we got in the car to drive to downtown Detroit, one of my and Alison’s song of the moment came on. I focused certain words to change it from the expectations of a man to the expectations of my legs… ‘I want you to take it like a thief in the night (talking about BQ) hold me like a pillow make me feel alright…want you to make me feel like I’m the only girl in the world like I’m the only one that’s in command….(changing words: take me for a run run, oh Boston qualify-I, let me make you fast fast, make my stride so right! ). Hearing any of our special songs is always a great way to take off to the marathon. Coincidentally, this was the song that was on when I finished the race. I have to change the words too much to make it the title of this write up. So I figured I would at least mention it :)


Bank of America had the Hard Rock Café as their race headquarters. This meant all BAC employees that signed up, got free food pre and post race, clean bathrooms, a warm place to hang out and a better place to keep your stuff, rather than gear check. Only 10 people there were running the whole marathon. Most of everyone were relay racers. Kelly had a team of 5 people. She ran the leg that went from Canada back into the US.

Around 6:40 I walked to the start with two of the guys Kelly introduced me to that were on her relay team. I thought the race started at 7:15 (I swore I read that somewhere), but around 6:54, they were singing the national anthem, and I thought- why so early? Oh- it was time to line up (real start was 7:00). SO I had to shuffle through to my race Coral- D (I was by L when they were singing). I managed to make it there with time to spare.

The plan was to run the first 3 miles as a warm up. I thought this warm up would be about 9 minute miles. They turned out to be 8:45s but that was close enough since it felt so easy. It was dark, but the streets were well lit and I wasn’t tripping over people. We made quite a few turns as you could see people running up the Ambassador Bridge. The Bridge is under construction so as we were climbing, we had a very narrow space to run, which meant you weren’t running your pace- you were running the pace of the person in front of you. Now, not to brag, but after experiencing mountain marathons, the Ambassador bridge- at mile 3- was easy. I got a little nervous as I was already having some circulation issues with my shoes/left foot around mile 4. I thought- oh boy, this is going to be a long run. But then I just thought about Kristin. She runs with real issues and she does it like a champ. Then there is Emily, she wouldn’t make excuses. So I better push all excuses out of my mind right now!

The cramps started moving up the leg …so early on. I used the command Anne told me to use when feeling it: “Not now legs. You can be as sore as you want later- but not now.” The issues went away and by mile 6 (the first relay exchange where I heard Kelly call out my name), I was all warmed up and ready to run! My pace fell into an 8:04 to 8:10 comfortably. As fast as we made our way into Canada, we were leaving. I thought “man, already? That means I have to run in the same country for the rest of the race!”

Around mile 6 is when I took my first Gu. This was new; I usually don’t take any until 9 or 10. With David visiting Chicago the week before, I not only had his stern texts about Nutrition but I got the stern lecture in person- I knew I had to listen to him, because if I didn’t qualify and didn’t listen to him, he would be able to blame it on my nutrition and I had no excuses that I didn’t get the texts- he would have had every right to say ‘I told you so.’ So, I had a Gu at mile 6 (e-gel), 13 (Vanilla with Caffeine), 17 (Roctane) and 22 (Roctane), I also took electrolyte pills at miles 10 and 20.

The start of mile 7 was on the Canada side of the tunnel. We had a nice decline and the tunnel was hot. People were very quiet when we first made our way in the tunnel so I decided to do what would seem normal to my runners, hoping those in the btunnel would appreciate it: I shouted “Can I get a WHOO WHOO” and it echoed pretty loud. At first I thought I failed miserably with no response. Then…like magic, a few gave the return ‘whoo whoos” and people started to make more noise. …much better tunnel…much better! Also while in the tunnel, I passed the guy who runs with his son in the wheel chair-jogger I think this is the first race I’ve seen him at. We popped out at mile 8 as we were running up and out of the tunnel.

My miles all kept coming in at sub 8:10s. When I hit mile 13 I felt like I was flying, I was feeling REAL strong. Matt, the new Director in the Chicago DetermiNation office made a comment that it’s usually around mile 15 where you know if you blew your goal (or made it?). I around then I started to slow down a bit but with the sub 8:10s I was doing before then, I figured it was alright to slow to 8:15s. I didn’t want to slow down too much, because it’s like once you start slowing a bit- you start to completely slip... And this time, I wasn’t having that!

I knew I was pushing it, and if I was working this hard now, I didn’t want to have to try all over again, so this was it- Boston was happening here- it just was. I thought about my extra motivation. I started envisioning Vegas. My plans had not yet been confirmed, and I started to get a new idea for Vegas. I thought if I could run it drunk- it would be a perfect girls weekend/reunion for Jen, Tiffany, Amanda and I- it’s where we all came together thanks to Jen’s bachelorette party so why not meet up in Vegas again? Then I thought of Alison and my other most recent song. And I thought- that’s my Vegas song... ‘Why so serious? So raise your glass if you are wrong in all the right ways... If you’re too school for cool, and you’re treated like a fool you can choose to let it go we can always party on our own” I knew that’s what Vegas needed to be- wrong in all the right ways, not serious, just fun. The only way to do that was to keep pushing myself at Detroit.

I wasn’t looking at my overall time, but thought I should have about an hour left when I hit the 20 mile marker. Unfortunately, I only had 53 minutes to still qualify, which is playing with fire. I was a little frustrated because I didn’t understand how that could be when I was checking almost all my splits and I was very well under the 8:26 average I needed for Boston. Of course- this didn’t include the extra mileage you put in when you don’t run the shortest distance on the course- and have to weave at water stations and any other time around people (I finished with somewhere around .3 extra miles).

I almost let my time at the 20 get me down, but I thought- what’s six more miles of this? There is no ‘almost’, and there is no giving up- you just have to push.

I started running 8:45s and felt like I couldn’t go any faster. Mile 24 had a lot of turns and twists through a park it felt like the longest mile ever. As I approached the 25th mile marker, we were going up a hill. I looked at my watch. I had 12 minutes to get to that finish. That’s now a 10 minute mile. I did what I shouldn’t have done, but I did it anyway- I walked for maybe 15 seconds. I stretched my legs as I made it up that hill. Sometimes, when I stop and start back up again- I can get some speed back in my legs, and so I decided not to let myself cramp up the hill and maybe pick the legs up for a strong finish at the end. I made the final turn that was mile 26 with .2 left. Now, I have only ended one marathon really sick at the finish and that was Cincinnati. I thought I was going to lose it in those final .2miles of this race. I think it was the Boston nerves but I felt like I could either pee in my pants or puke …luckily I didn’t do either of those things. Rather, I finished with my arms kind of in the air- and it hit me…I DID IT….well…if my watch was right. For the next 2 hours, I was on edge fearing, maybe I didn’t really qualify, maybe something went wrong on my watch and I missed it by seconds.

When I crossed the finish I walked through all the finishers’ fun stuff. I made my way back to the Hard Rock, where Kelly walked in minutes after me all excited for me. She saw me finish and knew I had it. She said the 3:35 group passed maybe 2 minutes before me, and she never saw the 3:40 group. But, I was still worried. Luckily, Caitlin was tracking me- she didn’t get the updates until a good hour after the race, but she finally called me to confirm, I did qualify like my watch said.

I have been trying to qualify for quite some time now. I can’t tell you what the right way is or how to go about doing it. I just know on this day, for me, it was to just run it fast, and not let it slow until the goal was in sight. I think because I’ve been trying for so long, I’m still in shock I qualified. On top of qualifying, I get to go to Vegas and just have fun.

My friends had a feeling, and this time, I believed their feeling- I had a feeling- that this was it. I hung onto that feeling and told myself not to give up. I might have come close to that cut off, but that’s because it’s supposed to be a difficult goal.

The WSJ recently posted an article pretty much saying the women’s times are too easy where the race is filling up too fast. I do like the idea of being challenged a little more, and am always about equality, but with lots of thought on this I decided the gap between men and women is fair. Women aren’t built l like men- we don’t have the amounts of testosterone to build our muscle and be in the same athletic shape as men. Women are more emotional in nature. Maybe we turn that emotion into passion and push harder to obtain the difficult goal because the goal IS difficult as is. So great, if Boston Qualifying times are changed because Women are being empowered to push their limits and too many are qualifying – great- we will just keep pushing our limits to what you give us and make the goal.

As for 2011 I have a big year ahead of me. I’m going to Boston which has been a WIP for the longest time. Then I’m doing the Wisconsin Ironman which will consume most of my life in 2011. I do plan to still run a few marathons in the spring when training for the ironman is somewhat manageable. I have decided, with all these big races, it’s time to go back to raising some money for American Cancer Society. I’ve noted Caitlin, Kristin, Emily and Alison above who are such inspirational people. Early on I said I’d raise money for ACS for my Ironman, but because of how I’ve been inspired; I want to do something else/something more. My goal for 2011 will be something like this: I want to raise $11 for every mile I race- whether it be run, bike or swim. If I do 1 Olympic tri, 1 half ironman, 1 ironman and 4 marathons, that puts me around $3900 to raise. . The more I race, the more you give- it’s that simple :)

The Breakdown

The Breakdown
Fairbanks,AK
State 19 – 50K
5:29:54


In the fall of 2009, Molly had contacted me and said she was looking at moving to Fairbanks, Alaska. She said she heard of a great opportunity to and had been interviewing to be a nurse practitioner at a community clinic. One of the guys she interviewed with mentioned the Equinox Marathon. Molly told me if she took the job, she would be there for one, maybe two years and I should do the marathon.

Being Alaska, I wanted to make it more than just a weekend trip. I didn’t think it was going to work for 2010 since there were plans for a 2 week family trip to Greece. This trip ended up being cancelled, and when it was cancelled, I had vacation time open up. Making lemonade out of lemons, I decided, that meant I should go up to Alaska. When I told Ultra Jen of my plans to run the Equinox Marathon, she mentioned they actually have an ultra marathon, so I should add on an additional 5 miles since I’m already out there. I knew the run would be in the mountains, and I figured, since it was a tough one (ranked just behind Pikes Peak) it would definitely be a run/walk, so I might as well increase the distance.

It was official; I was signed up for the Ultra Marathon (50K), in the spring. In June, I booked my plane ticket. I made a detour in San Francisco/San Jose since Becky just moved there and spent 5 days (not including day of travel), in Alaska.

The vacation part of Alaska was great. It was like the Ultra Marathon was a side thought. It was a race to enjoy the state, and put the time/pace on the back burner. On the Wednesday before, Molly and I hiked the out/back portion. This would be miles 13 to 17. It was rocky and bumpy and I thought, there is no way I will be running this, falls would really hurt! I knew I had 10 hours to finish, so really, just 3 miles an hour was all I needed to do.

Friday, Molly and I went out to Denali Park (Mt. McKinley). It was a clear and beautiful day. We had a great time there, and then made our way back to Fairbanks to pickup my race packet. Packet Pickup was again, a smaller venue, no ids required just give your name, and then get your shirt and a water bottle. No timing chip for this race, once the gun went off that’s when the clock started.

Saturday morning I got up, Molly took me to the start (University of Alaska). I was hoping there would be a gear check, and I believe this is my first marathon race without a gear check. I made the mistake of tearing off this tag on my bib, thinking it was for gear check and I put it on my bag. When I realized there was no gear check, Molly just took my bag.

What I took with me on the run
~ Molly’s Ipod as my shuffle stopped working somewhere on this trip and I otherwise only had a big ipod.
~My work blackberry just because I knew I’d be calling Molly with about 5 miles left to come watch the finish, and my work blackberry is ATT while my personal is Sprint. Out in Alaska, sprint doesn’t work too well.
~Four Gus (I only ate 3)
~Two Aleve (Never took).

I originally wanted to bring a camera, but I didn’t like the thought of falling on it. If Sprint weren’t unreliable in Alaska, then I could have brought my phone with a camera on it. My work disabled the camera function on my Blackberry so there was no camera. I should just be thankful I had a functioning phone the whole race.

If you visit the equinox marathon website, you would see a picture of the start. The start consists of running through a field and up a hill 250 feet. When the gun went off to start, we all started running up this hill which then funneled onto a trail. Because you had to make it through the gate, even if you ran up the hill, you had to then stop and wait to make it through the gates, and run on a trial single file. The race started off in a great way, feeling so laid back. I wasn’t here for time; this was another one of those ‘remind me why I love running’ races.

We managed to make our way onto an open road and everyone spread out in their respective paces before the next trail. I couldn’t tell you what pace I started off with, because I wasn’t worrying about time. I also didn’t mind the trails so much, because my legs were fresh. I was actually having a lot of fun. About 5 miles into the run, I started talking to a local, Keith. He pointed out a lady just ahead of us who holds the female course record. This time would be 3:20ish back in 2002/2003 (that is the Marathon distance, not Ultra). That should give some perspective on the toughness of the course.

Around mile 8, we actually started running with Ms. Course Record holder, and I think her husband, which she was pacing for this race. At one point, Keith pointed to the mountain a little bit away and he said, that’s the top of Ester Dome, which is what we are climbing today. Okay, I knew we had climbed on the drive, but seeing the exact mountain and how high it was from the distance we were at, that put the whole race on a new level. I reminded myself, 3 miles an hour, and since I was already doing over 6 an hour at that point, I could go even slower on that climb.

Before Mile 9, I decided to Breakdown the run into sections. The portion I just talked about was the warm up run portion. The next few portions include:
2) The Climb;
3) The Bumpy Hike;
4) The Oh $hit, let’s not die on the down;
5) The Fast Down;
6) Extra Credit;
7) Final Mile.

2) The Climb. I started with Keith and his friends. However, I pushed ahead. I knew they had a goal to make the initial part of the climb running until we hit trail again. I almost managed that but walked a little earlier on. Once I hit the trail, Keith and friends passed me. This was between miles 9-10 and I was walking a brisk walk, and my calves were burning. When I could run, I would run, or more or less jog. Before Mile 10, I started to pass this man and just as I was passing, I hit a root, and tripped. I caught myself, which he applauded my catch, but that scared me enough to slow down and walk again. This guy and I started walking and talking together. He mentioned he was doing the relay with his wife and son. He had the toughest of the legs. He made climbing the mountain not so bad. Once we got on the open road, I did try to run for a bit and left him. I managed to make it to mile 13 which meant I was close to part 3: the bumpy hike. I decided since I had my phone, I’d give Alison a call, and tell her so far I loved this race- walk or run- it was a great challenge and beautiful.
There was a porta potty and I got all excited, having to go to the bathroom, so I stopped. This concluded part 2 at about 2 hours and 20 minutes (the half marathon marking)

3) The Bumpy Hike. From the point of Molly and my hike, to actually being out there for the race, I gained a little courage. Unless it was one of the huge inclines, I was running this portion. The bumpy hike is also known as the out/back. The turnaround is part way through a decline. They had a water stop at the turn around, so I stopped, grabbed a drink and walked on the incline (like everyone else). At the end of this portion, I stopped to refill the bottle I was carrying with me.

4) The Oh $hit, let’s not die on the down, is also known as the Chute. I’m pretty sure this isn’t part of a real running path, it was along some power lines and you had to jump back and forth left to right, for the most compact rocks that didn’t make you slip. If you looked up (which I could really only do on the peripheral), you saw this was nearly a vertical drop and if you tripped and fell, you would be tumbling into a bloody mess (which has happened before). I managed fine at first, but when I didn’t know where this down would end, and how long I would have to shuffle and kill my quads and knowing you couldn’t stop because if you stopped, you would then just slide on down (and become a bloody mess), I could feel the tears forming in my eyes (and I said out loud- I want my Mommy!). I was catching up to a girl in front of me as I could hear a guy right on my tail. I really worried he was going to try to pass me and that would trip me up. The guy behind me told me we were almost to a place where we turn off and go back on a path. When I completed this portion, I’m pretty sure I had a loud sigh and as I started to pass the girl who was in front of me I said “I’m so happy I’m still in one piece” she agreed.

5) Being alive and in one piece, I made our way to the next portion. Still very steep, but more manageable was the fast down. I don’t know if it was Idaho that prepared me for this, but this is where I passed lots of people. I started to use music (I needed to be focused on my step for parts 2-4 so there was no music then). I also don’t know if it was because I was taking it slower and walked some, but I still felt more than fine. I figured I should live it up as my quads were really killed on this section and part 4, so soon enough I would be slowing down. Around mile 22, we made it back on a trail, and I was still really enjoying the run. I gave Alison a call just to tell her I was doing a lot better than all my expectations and still loving the run minus the part where I thought I was going to tumble into my death. Not only did I get to talk to her, but I also got to hear from Michelle. I might have looked like an idiot running on my phone, but it made me happy. Around mile 25 I called Molly to tell her when I had about 6 miles left. I told her, this could either take me 50 minutes, or an hour and a half. I also told her the part of my bib I put on my bag thinking it was gear check- I needed it for the finish. So I asked her to bring that with her and pass it off to me just before I finished. We agreed I would call her again with 4 miles left, so she could make it there on time.

6) Extra Credit. If you know Tony, he introduced me to the term ‘extra credit.’ Tony goes out to the Tour De France course every year and bikes it. They aren’t the people actually racing the Tour De France, but his group is out there during the race and just does random parts of the course. Each day they have X amount of miles to accomplish, then they have some extra miles/extra climbs they call extra credit. Since the marathon/ultra was together until just over the 25 mile marker, I decided the ultra distance was my extra credit. This course was very soft and woodchippy for the most part. It was rolling hills and awesome. I walked/ran more and was all alone- just me and Molly’s music which I really enjoyed the randomness and so many songs with memories of College. Every now and then I’d catch up to a person and exchange a few words before passing. You had to watch the course arrows because the path was windy and you could easily turn a wrong way. Around mile 19.5, I wasn’t sure I was going the right way. Just as I realized I was correct, I tripped. Somehow, after 29.5 miles, I still caught myself without falling, but that sent a Charlie-horse like pain up my leg. I stopped for a minute to regain control of my leg, and then walked some. I finished mile 30, as the course turned off the trail and back on a hill, on a magnificent decline. I could tell I was near the finish.

7) The final mile was brought us back with the Marathoners. It was also a steep down for a lot of it. Somehow, I was still feeling great where I picked up my stride. I was listening to Lips of An Angel, and was so into the song and the down, I blasted my music, which I think turned a few heads- oops! The .2 was all that remained. We were back on that open grass where we started. And some sick joke of the race, we had to climb half way up the 250 foot climb again before we could go back down it to the finish. I did walk on that up until the turn down, and then I picked up the down. I grabbed my little ticket from Molly, and I sprinted the final 200 feet to the finish. It felt so great to finish in just under 5 hours and 30 minutes.

Because this race was tough, and I knew I should just take it easy - I managed to really enjoy it, and I managed to cross the finish line feeling happy. I really didn’t know if this would take me 6 hours, 8 hours or the full 10. Breaking down the race really helped my mental game, and remember all the different parts of the race. It was a great state #19, and I kind of want more like it.

Ironman Wisconsin - The Journey Part 1

Over the next year, the blog is getting some additional writings.

On Monday, Sept. 13, 2010, the Wisconsin Ironman opened the 2011 registration.

If you don't know, the Wisconsin Ironman sells out within minutes, maybe even seconds of it opening up for regitrations online. There are other ways to get a slot:
1) The current years participants can sign up actually the day before that year's Ironman. (So next year, I could register for 2011, the day before I actually complete the Ironman)
2) If you volunteer for the Ironman, you get first in line when in person registration opens up.
3) After the volunteers get to line up and register, then everyone else can line up to register in person.
4) THEN finally, after all this, it opens up online.
(You can also pay something like an additonal $1,000 or something like that for other charity slots).

What this means, is you really should be there in person, otherwise you are gambling on slots still being open. My schedule didn't allow this since I had my California/Alaska trip planned. So, I had to take a gamble.

The Journey for the Ironman, starts the moment you register. The adrenaline rush that hit me leading to signing up was ridiculous. I watched that clock tick down to 10:00am (PDT). I tried to register earlier, but it wasn't until 10:00am hit the clocks, that you could register.

Once it opened I went to business. It wasn't your typical registration. They asked all sorts of questions for purposes of publishing. I just wanted to confirm my entry, so all i kept typing on all the questions was "i'm a 50 stater" and managed to say something like that to each question.

I figure since it's a year long journey of the ironman, I'd write a few updates along the way.

So expenses thus far? Registration: $614.43
That's enough to remember this is serious business. You must train enough to be ready and make it to the finish, but not too much where you get injured. Easy enough? Right?

Well see....

(We're gonna) Rock This Country

(We're gonna) Rock This Country
Pocatello, ID - State 18
September 4, 2010
3:50:17

I am not officially in the 50 state club. It takes just mailing in a piece of paper, which if you know me, you know that I'm the worst at snail mail. I'm getting a little better at it, but still not great. (Thank goodness for online banking, or my bills would probably never be paid on time). Though I'm not officially in the club, the goal is there, and I'm tackiling it faster than I originally set out for.

Some think my goals for the 50 states is ridiculous, but as my blog headline says: "I'm just your average endurance runner." I might even be below average for the 50 state club. We are all rocking this country in our own ways. This state was tackled with one of my great friends: Ultra Jen. She is who I would place in the above average group. We started almost at the same point. We started at the same speed, and I was her pace leader. Somewhere down the road, her running surpassed me imensely. Early on, she was into the Ultra Marathons and trail running. She talked me into my first Ultra which was by far the hardest state I have accomplished. I think Alaska will be worse, and of course she's the one to talk me into signing up for the 50K rather than the marathon.

Though Jen started with Ultras and loved them because you could take it slow, something happened and she changed her focus. She no longer is just running Ultras and Marathons, she said she wants to master all distances, this includes speed runs. Now most people are either short distance and fast or long distance (and slower). She wants the 5K in under 20 minutes, while still running her 100 mile runs and taking home first place. She went out and conquered the Western States 100, which if you read Dean Karnazes' book, you would know, that is quite the race. She paced someone 50 miles in the Leadville 100(which if you read Born to Run you would learn that is in the toughest and roughest altitudes up to 12,620 feet). And when I'm out in Alaska, she'll be at Nationals. I'm telling you, she's going to become a known runner soon enough.

So...when Jen said "Tara, lets go out and do Idaho together" I said what I always seem to say when someone says "lets run this" ... I said, 'Okay' This race is a milestone race for me, as it's my first marathon in the mountains. Pine Mountain was in the foothills of the Appalacians, but it also was on trail, which I've learned, I'm not too big of a fan of trails because it makes you walk and always focus down concentrating on not falling, so Pine Mountain and Idaho are two whole different feels for me. I was actually racing Idaho. I was unsure what 1,500 feet of down in the first 14 miles would do to my body, but of course, I had to at least push it and try to see if this could be a Boston Qualifier.

Though I ran on a marathon training schedule prior to the Racine Half Ironman, I didn't focus on MY marathons and the distance until after Racine. Once Racine was over the goal was to make it to the gym and treadmill run twice a week. Part of this is for the Alaska training, and part was for Idaho. I started my runs on a -3% decline for two miles at a 9minute mile, and then I would go flat and run 1 mile at a 8minute mile, and from there i'd begin an incline run, completing a total of 6 to 8 miles. Prior to this, I struggled at a 5% incline, and with this training, I've learned after pushing 10% + run/walking, going down to 5% was pretty 'easy'

Jen and I flew out to Idaho early Friday morning. Her friend, Tony was on a different flight, that was actually supposed to get in before us, but due to someone passing out on the plane, he didn't get into Pocatello until 8pm. We landed in Salt Lake City and had a 2.5 hour drive to Pocatello. The drive was fairly uneventful but it was beautiful, driving by all the Mountains.

A neat thing for me about Pocatello, is my Grandfather once lived just outside of there. He would go to church and summer school at the church there. It's a Greek Orthodox Church, and it's still there. We got to drive by it many times and eventually stopped there to take pictures. We also went by the railroad where he had his first job, and the race ended in Ross Park, the park which he shared some stories with me on how he would spend many family outtings in that park.

In the morning, we left the hotel at 4am, parked the car at the finish, and took a bus to the start...26.2 miles away and up. As we took the bus on the mountain that we would soon be going down, the Bus was struggling a bit going up. I thought "oh boy, the quads are going to be shot!" We started at 6,000 feet.

It was still dark when we got to the top, which was just about 5:45. There were only 350 runners in this race so the start wasn't like any city marathon. Tony and Jen made waiting for the start fun. Tony is also one Rocking this Country with the 50 states. He is completing his Michigan next weekend for a 50 miler horrible trail run (in Hell, Michigan), so he took this run extremely easy. Jen, ran with me for the first 11 miles. When we started, it was still pretty dark, and as we ran down the Mountain, we got to watch the sun rise above the other mountains in front of us. It was extremely beautiful, and Jen and I tried to entertain eachother. We started at a comfortable 8:30 and worked our way to an 8:00 ...because we were going down, the plan was not to kill ourselves but get as much speed on the down trying to make it natural and not kill the quads. Already around mile 6 I was feeling it, so I figured I'd take some Ibprofen early on, I didn't think slowing down would have much impact, because the pounding would be there all the same. Around mile seven we had a break from the down and went up. I actually pushed that one in the sub 8 minute miles because it was just so great to be doing something other than down. Then...it was back to the down.

We saw a beautiful black horse running 'freely' on a large field. I turned on the music to take my mind off what I was feeling. I was also trying to just take in the surroundings. I saw a man wearing a shirt that said he did the 50 states all in sub 4 hours. So I said hi to him. We started talking, just as Jen decided she wanted to make a bathroom stop. So we parted ways. It was nice to talk to this guy but then he just latched on and kept talking, and i really just wanted to get in a zone. I learned he is on his 2nd round of the 50 states (so he's Rocking this Country TWICE!), and again in sub 4 hours, and he was headed to Colorado for another marathon on Monday so he figured this run would be a 3:50ish marathon (he finished about 3:58). We were nearing the bottom of the mountain and had some incline to take on. I told him I wanted to listen to my music so I didn't have to hear my breathing, and we parted ways.

I powered up the ups and then took it easy on the downs. I passed some younger guys, and then one of them caught up with me, and though I was happy with my music, he decided I looked like I wanted to talk. So, we started chatting and he told me this is his second time doing this race and he is from Pocatello. We chatted for a mile or so, and in this time, we met up with the half marathoners, so the race just got a little crowded and it was time to start weaving the slower half marathons. (This race was set up so the marathoners started at 6:15, the half marathoners started and joined the marathoners at mile 13.1 around 8am and then there were also 10Ks to join and 5Ks...all ending at the same place).
When it came to weaving, I left the guy and made my way through the half-ers.

We reached the bottom of the hill around mile 14 and it was time for some gradual ups ('only' 50-100 feet at a time and always hovering around 4,000feet). I wasn't feeling that great but I took some gu and powered on through. I had to stop twice to tighten my shoe laces as they weren't undone but coming loose and made my feet uncomfortable. I started to feel better and just kept a slow and steady pace around a 9 to 9:20 mile. The local guy I was talking to told me around mile 21 was the steepest of the ups. I made it to 20 and was feeling alright. I didn't know if Boston was still in sight, but I was taking in my surroundings and I turned my watch to a setting so I couldn't obsess. (3 horses were 'horsing' around it was very fun to watch).

As I made it to the turn and the steep hill at 21, I decided I would walk for a minute, when a girl said "I've been trying to catch up with you, I finally caught you, now run with me" So I did, but it was slow. Then about that same time, Jen started to pass me. Now, Jen didn't mean harm in what she said, but her words are when I lost my positive mental game. She asked me "what happened, did I push you too much on the down?" Up until that point, I was still thinking I was doing alright if I just took it easy and pushed through the pain in my quads. But then, somewhere around mile 22, I let the pain take over. I slowed down significantly and walked some, and just tried not to think. I turned off my music with about a half mile left since there were even crowds in Pocatello and I crossed the finish in 3:50

Alison got the call where I was upset, but then she managed to remind me that even 3:50 is great especially out on a course where I had my quads beat up on the first half. My mom also reminded me of the Triathlon the week earlier, and with the two of them lifting me back up, I allowed to push away the negativity.

Tony, Jen and I met up once Tony finished (Jen went back to find him on the course and ran with him to the finish). We cracked some beers (we brought), and sat out around the finish for a few hours. We were probably hanging out in the same grass where my Grandfather enjoyed my Great Grandmother's Strawberry Cakes.

We learned I was one off from receiving an award for my age group. I placed fourth, and though there were less than 20 in my age group, I am pretty happy with being number four.

Of course, because Jen is a SUPER rockstar, we ended up going out to Mount Borah the next day so she could also cross Idaho off her list for "Climbed to highest point of state" Something I'm not doing, but I told her I would join her on the adventure (on Marathon Legs). I managed going up for 2 hours, in the dark, but I really wasn't enjoying myself and didn't think I had it in me for the complete 6 hour trip up, so I decided once it got light out, I would turn around. That down was so hard on my beat up quads, yet Jen, managed the full up which included trekking through snow, loose gravel where you are on all fours trying to crawl (they call that scrambling I think?), and some vertical climb. This year two people have already gotten stuck at the top and had to be rescued by helicopters. I'm pretty sure if I would have gone to the top, I would have been the third.

50 staters all have their own reasons for wanting to run all 50 states. Most don't JUST complete the 50 states, but they have more add ons that make it more interesting and difficult. For me, I added on the triathlons and want to complete an Ironman. The one constnat thing about completing the 50 states, is all the traveling you do. There is alot of ground to cover, and so much to see around the Country. Most people don't get the chance to travel to all 50 sates, but if you are a 50 Stater, you are guaranteed to Rock this Country!

(And PS- When Jen and I travel together, we have a rule about the Radio selection, and Country is one of the offlimit Cs, so the fact that my title is a Country Music song, was an additional bit of satisfaction for me to have Jen roll her eyes).

Working my way to be a dominaTRIx of my division.

Working my way to be a dominaTRIx of my division

Chicago Triathlon 2010
2:51:58
Swim (.9mi plus quarter mile run): 34:50 rank: 1659/3859
T1:
Bike (24.9mi): 1:12:55 rank: 899/3859
T2:
Run (6.2mi): 56:53 rank: 698/3859

Division Place: 22/323
Gender Place: 105/ 1169
Overall: 777/3859


Is Triathlon season really over for my 2010 year? What a year. Last year, I got so nervous just to complete a sprint triathlon. I still get nervous, but the reasons are different; I've found the competitor in me with triathlons this year.

Since this is my second year in the Chicago Triathlon, I had expectations. I've already done this race once, and so I knew the course.

Racine had come and gone. I did just what I planned on doing: sleeping a little more and cutting back on the mileage. It was time to focus on marathon training, and the Chicago Triathlon was just another event in the mix. I look back and kind of wish I would have placed more emphasis on it, because in my division, I kicked butt at being in the top 6.8%, if I would have focused on bricks more, and worked on speed more, maybe I have it in me as D. Lee says: 'To bring home the hardware' (Things that make you go hmmm....for after the Ironman).

Alison and I continued with our social hour rides on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. We stopped pushing speed but the rides are our equivalent of going out to the bars or grabbing dinner with a twice a week. I cut back on Lake Michigan swims, but made sure I was getting in the pool twice a week if not out in Lake Michigan. Sheila and I had some good swims, and I met Emily out there twice; one of which can mark as the longest swim I have completed thus far: 3 miles. That was a lot of fun, as I took a half day, ran 7 miles (hill training at the gym) then met with Kristin, Emily and Sheila for a swim. We would stop at certain 'check points' laugh some, curse at the boats creating waves, and then continue on.

Overall, I've improved my ability to relax while I swim in open water. Alejandro has made me love biking and enjoy getting out and do it (If you are new to my blog, Alejandro is my bike). And the run....well, it's running. What has changed since last year would be just this: I look forward to jumping in the water and know you just breath; I really like getting on the bike, because I pass many and keep up with guys on the course; And it's the run that has turned into my weakness.

My Parents came to Chicago to continue with their wonderful cheerleading abilities. We went out for my Birthday dinner Saturday night, and with the Triathlon in town, hotels were scarce and expensive for last minute, so my Parents stayed at Hotel Tara and I stayed over at Alison's. Alison, being an Ironman, knew what pre-race evenings should be like, so the prep was laid back and easy going. We stayed up until about 10:30, doing what girls do best (and what we do on our bike rides), girl talk :) If I haven't mentioned this before, the lake shore path is kind of like Vegas: What happens on the path, stays on the path.

My alarm went off at 4:00am, I slowly made my way out of bed (snooze button was used) and was riding down to transition by 4:45. Here is what I love about this race: It's in my backyard! I just have to hop on my bike and take a leisure ride 3 miles. I quickly set up my transition area and enjoyed hearing others around me talk, as they were new to this. It made me feel great to know I was experienced this year.

Once I set up my transition and took in my surroundings (which Chicago's transition area is the biggest clusterfuck known to triathlons), I met up with Laura B. and we went to watch her Man, Michael, start the race. It was his first tri, and he was in one of the first waves. Laura is so laid back I had to laugh she said he was pretty intense with it. Usually Laura's calmness makes me calmer, but I guess it just made him more nervous. As we were slowing walking to the start of the swim (which is a good 3/4 mile from transition) we hear the air horn go off. She looks at me and says "Crap I'm the worst girlfriend ever, we need to get there” and we take off running (Did I mention I didn't bring my sandals, so I waited the 3+ hours barefoot). We made it to the swim start area and found him, she was able to wish him well, and off he went.

I told Laura I wanted to go to the ACS tent and say 'Hi' to them for a bit, so we parted ways. The transition closed at 5:45am and I wasn't racing until 9:20. That's a lot of waiting around. I spent one of those hours just lying on chairs by the ACS tent relaxing (How many ACS volunteers does it take to put up a changing tent? FOUR), another hour walking back over to the start area and watching people start (maybe did a little stalking/?investigating?). I watched Laura prep in the swim start race chute, and the last hour was spent back to the ACS tent to get Emily, put on my wetsuit and go back to the start area.

Technically this swim didn't need a wetsuit, the water was in the lower 70s that morning, but there is something about Lake Michigan water, that I believe I'm a little more protected from the germs and sickness of that lake with my wetsuit on. I was sweating in the wetsuit, which made me look forward to getting in the water. Just before I left, Veronica, Alison and Emily decided 'Club Can't Handle Me’ should start me off. Ironically, just as we were walking into the swim start area (where you jump into the water) 'Club Can't Handle Me' played!

The start of the swim was the most aggressive I've ever been, but within the first two minutes, I had managed to be comfortable with my space, I just followed the feet in front of me and passed when necessary. I swam harder than I did the previous year, though, I did alot of swerving on the second half of the swim. Everyone knows straight lines are more efficient, but that wasn't how I ended up working that swim.

Once I got out of the water, I started to rip off the wet suit right away- it was HOT out. The run is the same quarter mile run as last year, I tried to run it a bit more aggressively, but there were others more aggressive which equates to more rude. One girl pushed her way through to pass and I focused my quarter mile run to be paced with her. I also decided to not like her right away. We will call her Pushy Girl for the rest of the write up.

I made the rookie mistake in the transition area, not running the planned route, which the extra row up I ran through didn't have the opening for me to get to my bike and I ended up by transition area number 48 stopped and confused trying to find 47. After maybe 30seconds of cursing under my breath, I found where I needed to run back to and found my bike. My transition could use some work. Once I got on my bike, I told myself I should hit 20mph early on. And sure enough, I ended up gliding for a bit at 24mph. That felt good, as I passed many, but I took on closer to 21mph average as I settled into the pace. I knew I would have the ramps to go over which are Chicago's hills. People in this race aren't educated like those in the half ironman. Staying over for people to pass doesn't work so well.

The whole ride, I counted ONE girl pass me and I had to do a double take to confirm she was indeed a girl. I ended up making a leapfrog friend in this race like I did in Racine. He also did Racine, and we chatted for a bit while we were forced to slowdown because a race official vehicle made us all ride on one lane, and slow people had no respect to stay over. This did affect my ride, as the first hour my watch read I completed 21+ miles, but my overall time on the bike was about 20.8mph average.

Once the bike was over, I wanted to make up for the slow transition 1 and I tried to rush on getting ready for the run. I was very excited for the Chi Tri because it's one- though frowned upon- the no music rule isn't enforced. This year, not many people wore it so I felt a little guilty, but, this is a run on a path i do practically EVERY day. I wanted my music. I kept it off for the first mile and the last half mile where the crowds were plentiful.

At first I thought I was going to keep a good 8:30 pace, which of course, in my mind would be like that for the first half and then pick it up in the second half. The 8:30 pace didn't last long as I realized the heat was sucking the life out of me. This became a mental battle game and actually a physical game toying with dehydration. The main game was: Don't let any 47s pass you, and try to pass other 47s. Around mile 2 or 3, I found Pushy Girl and passed her!!! Yay, take that pushy girl!

There were several ambulances working hard on the course and several people down. I believe if this were a Chicago marathon, the flag level would have reached red for sure, and Alison believes it was a black run.

The race became a battle of not letting pushy girl repass me. I slowed down significantly, and even walked a few parts. The last water stop ran out of water (and didn't have cups filled around mille 2). I took an ice cube and ate it for whatever coolness and liquid I could get. I pushed slowly to the finish, shocked not a single 47 passed me on the run and crossed the finish...upset.

I had done so good up until the run, I thought I for sure had my 2:45 goal. BUT, the run was not where I thought it was going to be. I was upset, I cried for a bit, but then I started thinking, even at my 9:10 pace, nobody passed me, and it wasn't like I was at the back of the pack. Of my division, of somewhere around 323 people, I finished 22nd (one minute better, would have put me in 18th). Nobody in wave 47 passed my slow run?!? Alison was probably right on the black flag level, with a head index nearing the 100s.

I'm sad that 2010 triathlon season is over. I don't want it to be over. I plan to keep the swimming and biking in circulation, though, an hour after the race finish I reminded myself: 6 days until the Idaho Marathon.

....Stay Tuned....


***Please note I once again talk about the American Cancer Society Team: Team Determination. Though I didn't officially race through them this year, I focus my volunteer efforts on them. Between being a Mentor for runners in their Half Marathon and Marathon programs, and being a Cheer Coach at the RNR Half Marathon/Chicago Marathon: They are my charity of choice. Just because I don't have a page set up, doesn't mean if you have a desire to donate, you can't. For the half Ironman, I gave Alison's page to donate on. This time, I'm giving out Kristin's page. Kristin has been part of many of my write-ups as an inspiration to me. And as I write this, she is just a couple hundred dollars away from reaching her 2010 fundraising goal: To raise $10,000 which brings her to a total of $100,000 since 2002. She defines the team name: When we swam the 3 miles, I had a thought to be done at 2 miles or possibly 2.5, but then I kept thinking of the friends I was swimming with, Emily and Kristin each with their own inspiring stories. This swim was Kristin's third open water swim of 2010. 1: Racine Half Ironman, 2: Steelhead Half Ironman;3: 3 mile swim (4? Madison Ironman). She is DetermiNation defined. Go to her website to read more about one of my many heros, and while you are there, if you want: Donate


The American Cancer Society:

:)

A TRIumphant Race

A TRIumphant race
Racine Half Ironman

5:45:26

Swim 43:58 (1.2 miles)
T1: 5:07
Bike 2:51:01 (56 miles)
T2: 2:52
Run 2:02:28 (13.1 miles)

I think it’s the Aids Marathon Training group that has the tagline of “You Train, You Triumph” Well, I think that would probably be true when training for any endurance sport.

The weekend after the Fargo Marathon was Memorial Day weekend. I had decided to simulate the Madison To Chicago Relay that weekend because, well it has become part of my pre-summer routine: You run many miles, at all hours of the day, it makes you a little sick but you feel so great for finishing it. While simulating, I had friends running with me. Leg 1: Andrea; Leg 2: Sheila; Leg 3: Alison; Leg 4 (Midnight Run): Ultra Jen; Leg 5: Ultra Jen, Tony and introductions to Lou.

Here it is, this introduction, might be what kicked my butt into gear for the bike portion of the triathlon. Prior to Memorial Day weekend, I was getting out and riding, maybe once a week. I otherwise kept resorting to the indoor spin bikes at the gym, mainly because I hate the lakeshore path. When meeting Lou, he said “The path is great at 5:00am, Tara just try it out” And that’s when my Tuesday and Thursday mornings started with the alarm going off at 4:30am. I started logging my weekday bikes between 30 to 40 miles on a regular basis, making that distance feel more natural.

A few weeks into this regime, Alison started joining, and then Alison started getting me out on the longer weekend rides. We went out to Barrington one weekend for a 60ish mile ride and I kind of fell in love with riding in Barrington. I also got a few longer rides in Wisconsin by my parent’s house. I had a loop on Hwy Y that would take me from New Berlin to Waukesha. There are lots of cars on Y at 50mph, but there is almost always a nice size shoulder, and part of the road is new, and it is SUPER hilly.

A few weeks into the T/R bike am bike rides, Lou somehow convinced me that waking up super early was so much fun, that I should get up Wednesday mornings to swim. Lou’s argument was the water is crystal clear, and you get to watch the sunrise as you swim. My thought process was: If you do it in the morning, you get it over with.

There is something to be said about training with friends, vs. alone. It’s a lot more enjoyable to train with friends, so enjoyable that I think Alison and I are going to keep the training going even though I just have the Chicago Tri left for 2010. Thank you to Alison and Lou, for being my Training Buddies!
(Alison: You know I know how to make them stop and stare as I zone out, the club can’t even handle me right now. Watching you watching me I go all out. AND REPEAT).

As usual, I still have marathon training going on in the background of whatever triathlon training I am doing. A notable PR: Lou, Jill and I went to track workouts with Lou’s group one Wednesday. Lou’s group is FAST, so fast that the first mile, I just wanted to keep up with them, so I pushed myself to and I ran a mile in under 6 minutes. That did kill me for the rest of the speeds, and I dropped back to the half mile speed group, but it was a TRIumphant P.R.

Fast forward training to the taper. Alison had to remind me to “Respect the Taper” I also had Maria and Lou both reminding me to take it easy. I don’t do that well, but I knew I should listen to the Ironman friends and for the most part I did.

The week before our race Alison and I were finishing a 26 mile ride out in Barrington and transitioning to a run, I looked at my phone and had a missed call and text from Rachel A. Rachel’s father has been struggling with Pancreatic Cancer for the past year. That morning, he passed away. I never knew Arcadio Alarcon Jr, but his daughter has become a great friend to me. I’ve talked about Rachel in many write-ups before, the influence she has had on my life is only positive. She fills my world with Love and a calmer perspective at life. Arcadio was Rachel’s father, and because of that, I know he was a great man. Alison saw how sad this news made me, and she knew I wanted to do something for Rachel and her family, so we decided I would complete the Racine Half Ironman in Honor of Arcadio and his family.
Rachel chose the American Cancer Society as the Charity for me to honor her father through. ACS has always been my charity of choice mainly because of my close ties: they are my Triathlon Community but Rachel had her own deep meaning to choose it and it makes me smile, how fitting ACS really is to gain the donation in Honor of Arcadio, a DetermiNed Man! I am not officially on Team DetermiNation this year (I’m just a Mentor to 30+ Runners), but if you have any interest in donating to a worthwhile charity you can click on the link below to Alison’s page.

Alejandro got tuned up the week before the race, I picked him up Saturday morning and he was so shiny and clean! He was ready. I made my way up to Wisconsin and stopped by my parent’s house to get my Dad. My Dad loves watching my triathlons. He is probably my best cheerleader and I’m so grateful to have such a wonderful dad, that even at age 28, he wants to be involved in my life. We made a game plan for where and when he should be at certain points of the race. My parents live about 40 minutes from the race start, but the western edge of the bike is about 20 minutes away, so this was great that my mom didn’t have to be out there right away, but it was convenient for her to meet up with my dad and then only had half a day of being on her feet.

Once we were finished at the Expo, we met up with my Mom and Veronica and her training friend, Daryl, for dinner. We had a great time filling in my parents with the wonders of Triathlon training. Veronica, Daryle and I were all first time half ironman participants, so we shared our concerns and worries and fed off each other’s excitement for what was to come.

My biggest concern of the evening was the weather. The weather forecast showed thunderstorms all Sunday. The chance was only 30%, but that Doppler looked pretty grim. I was trying not to be worried about it, and went to bed.

Sunday morning came and making it to the race was free of stress. My dad took me and I set up my transition area. I was nervous, but actually more excited to get started, than nervous for what could go wrong. I wish I would have taken a picture of the moment, I was with my four original Ironman inspirations: Heath, Kristin, Alison and Michelle, and with my Ironman Goal to accomplish together friend, Veronica. Right on schedule of the goal I set out for 2 years ago.

When the swim started, I had a moment of panic with all the kicking and hitting, but I backed off to have a little more of my own space, and attempted to get in a rhythm. When I wasn’t being kicked or hit, I was content, but there was one blow to the face where I bit my lip and wondered if I had a bloody nose. Of course the thought in my mind was, that would make me look tough, getting out of the water with a bloody nose- ha!. There was another kick that pushed in my left goggle right to my eye. I just decided to swim like that unless it became so irritable I would have to stop and fix. I saw lots of people get pulled out, which I’m guessing it was because of the cold 63 degree temperature? I didn’t find it too bad, but then again, the Wednesday morning Jill and I went swimming, I’m sure the temps were in the mid 50s and that made me a little tougher on the cold temps. I felt like I was going extremely slow, so I was pretty content with a 43 minute finish (that includes a nice portion of running in the sand).

My dad was there watching me run the transition. I talked with some people in the transition, and off I went for the bike. The start of the bike was on an uphill. Veronica and I talked about walking our bikes to the top before we mount, but at that moment I decided to mount at the bottom, but couldn’t get my 2nd foot latched while going up hill, and so as I saw my dad again, he just said, many are running it up the hill do that….and so I got off and ran it to the top and got on again. Of course, I got some cheers for Alejandro. Everybody loves my bike J

The first and last 7 miles of the bike were on the annoying streets of Racine that were blotchy and bumpy. But the other 42 miles were pretty great! I had so much fun on the bike. I was cruising along at 20mph, which I didn’t expect but it just felt so good that I let it happen. I loved the rolling part of the hills, because with every down, I would push and then coast on the up. We had some other hills that took some work. I wasn’t afraid to use the easy gears, because I wanted to keep my legs fresh.

My dad made it to the 20 mile mark JUST as I was passing, I mean he crossed the street to get in the place I knew to look for him at, as I was passing.

Around mile 25, I first spotted my leap frog friend, Simon. We managed to pass and repass each other. At first, I do have to say, I was worried this guy was getting annoyed with me, and I wondered if he was an egotistical guy that didn’t like it when girl passed him. But finally at one point he said hello, and we made a game out of it that really made the bike that much more enjoyable. We were each other’s carrots.

Around mile 30, I started to pay for the lack of nutrition I was taking in on the race. D. Lee’s biggest lecture to me was about nutrition. He told me to get the e-gels as they were better than gus and everything else, and to make sure I eat often. Eating while biking means you have to coordinate and a lot of times that means you have to slow down, and I just didn’t want to slow down. But, mile 30 I noticed my vision was a little spotty. I experienced this with the Waukegan Triathlon last year, and knew it was because my electrolytes were down. I could hear the lecture from D. Lee if I had to stop the race because I passed out and I immediately took three electrolyte pills and had an e-gel. This did the trick!

Simon passed me around mile 37 and said “tag, you’re it” Well, he took off so fast, I just let him fly (okay by that I mean, I picked up my pace, but accepted the fact I wasn’t catching up with him). My dad managed to meet with my mom and make it at mile 40 to cheer me. It was great to know every hour, I had spectators!

I turned the corner on H, and knew, it was home free from there. I had a perma grin because I felt so great and was having such a good time, I couldn’t not smile. As I passed people I got many comments about how smiley I was. Around mile 47, I finally caught up to Simon. I told him I thought I lost him forever and it was great to see him. He said he hoped he was making me work for it, which he was. He passed me in the early 50s and that was the last I saw of him.

The last 7 miles were beyond annoyingly bumpy. I didn’t like staying in the aerobar position because of the bumps. They hurt my bottom as well as my arms. But, the bike was over. When I dismounted, I was filled with energy. I felt GREAT!

I went into transition, and changed shoes and everything else for the next event: A Half Marathon! I saw Emily and Jen as I started my run, but I didn’t see my parents. I figured, I was too fast for them, but hope they realized they missed me so they weren’t waiting around or getting worried.

The miles felt long but I was all smiles. Somewhere after the first mile, I saw Heath, he was heading south, finishing his first loop ready to start his second. I thought, lucky man! Around mile 3 I was finally getting into a rhythm and at this time, we heard some thunder and then were misted. I found it odd there was thunder because it looked pretty clear to me, and I didn’t know what cloud was misting us because I really didn’t see any. I made the turn around, and started heading back south. Between miles 4 and 5 I noticed the ground was soaked and that’s when I started to slow down just a bit, as the rain was evaporating and it was so hot. I learned the ground was wet because for 5 minutes, the skies opened up and down poured, I just happened to be too far north to be blessed with a shower mid run, instead I got the steamy roads.

My mom managed to be cheering on the run right near the turn around. You could see the finish as you turned around. The clock read 5hours and 15 minutes. My wave started 35 minutes into the race so that meant I was at 4 hours and 40 minutes. At that point I knew, I could finish the race in under 6 hours I just had to finish the 2nd loop.

I was walking through the water stops because I was grabbing about 3 cups at each one (it was near 90 degrees at the point of me starting the run, so it was all about staying hydrated). Luckily the water stops were plentiful and they were also offering coke. I would take 2 waters and 1 coke or 2 waters and 1 powerade at every stop on the way back. I also grabbed ice, if anything to hold in my hand and focus on that pretending my whole body was that refreshed.

I saw Alison and Kristin both twice as they were on their 1st loop. Seeing them gave me little burst of energy. For awhile, I did resort to counting my steps. And I imagined jumping back into the lake and cooling down.

I was in the last mile, focused on the finish. I saw Ed cheering which I wanted that to give me extra energy, but at that point I had a cramp brewing that I was focused on not letting take over me. I listened to Anne’s advice and just said “not now legs, just get me to the finish, you can cramp up later” I don’ know if that worked, but I carried myself to the finish all smiles crossing the finish line. My Mom, Dad and Uncle were at the finish line waiting for me. Hugs were in order, as I looked at the clock my dad said “You finished in 5 hours and 45 minutes!” I was so happy, the tears were flowing and the feeling remains with me as I write this.

I didn’t doubt I would finish (okay well, I did worry I would get a flat and somehow not be able to change it and then get DQed). I knew I could swim 1.2 miles in 40 to 45 minutes, I figured I could pull off a 2 hour half marathon after the swim and the bike, but I never imagined I could ride 56 miles in just under 20mph. I was thinking more along 3 hours and 20 minutes, closer to 17mph. I also figured I would definitely slow down and thought I was going to finish between 6 ½ hours and 7 hours. To finish the Half Ironman and be that much closer to the Ironman Dream is such a big win in its own. But to finish in 5hours in 45 minutes, that’s just a Triumphant Race!

Everything's Gonna Be Alright

Everything’s Gonna Be Alright
Fargo, ND
May 22, 2010
State # 17

3:49:29

I am starting off this write-up with a post on my facebook wall from Rachel A. because I first thought I would try to write this in ‘Fargo talk’ but I think that would get too difficult. So here is my way of giving you the Fargo feel (which no, they don’t just talk like this in the movie. But also not everyone in Fargo talks like this):“ND language lessons: Start conversations talking about the weather; end all sentences with ‘ya know’, ‘you betchya’ or ‘okiedokie’; refer to hair as hairs; never confuse ‘yah’, ‘yep’, and ‘yah you betchya’; you bake with soda and drink pop; you mail a paggitch; refer to a snack as bunny lunch. And universally, run like the wind.”So how did Fargo, ND get in the marathon mix for 2010? Fargo is advertised in all the running magazines and is well known for getting your money’s worth. I knew when it came to North Dakota, I would run Fargo but like Ultra Jen, I thought it would be one of the last 50. However, in April 2009, I was visiting my Grandfather in California when I met one of his friends, John. John and Bess, are from Fargo, ND but also have a winter home in California. I would call John, my Grandfather’s best friend in California. Bess was already back in Fargo when I was visiting my Grandfather, but word got around that I run marathons and she started contacting me with information on the Fargo Marathon. She told me if I came out for it, I was welcome to stay with them. Well, with 50 marathons, it gets expensive (I once estimated this to put me at $35,000 over the course of 50 marathons, including hotel, flight/gas, registration, running gear, shoes, etc. Not including triathlons). I digress (shocker), how could I turn down an offer to have a place to stay? In my time in Fargo, John and Bess have been such gracious hosts and I would call them adopted grandparents (and they are Greek and it’s a Greek thing to be family with every other Greek in the world).My last race was in St. Petersburg for the triathlon, which was two weeks after the St. Louis Marathon. Since St. Petersburg, there was Alexis’ Bachelorette party at the Kentucky Derby where Alexis and I ran; I managed 15 miles in the heat. The following weekend I was actually in Chicago. I got sick just before this weekend, and my planned 22 mile run got cut to 20 miles. Anne ran with me for the first 8? miles. She just ran Boston for the first time this past year, and so she was extremely inspiring to talk with. The final weekend before the Fargo Marathon, I was in Milwaukee for Mandy’s Bachelorette party. Come Sunday morning, I realized I fell the night before, and my shin hurt pretty bad walking, not so much running, but this made me a little nervous.As I got to the airport Friday morning before the race, I quickly learned that just about everyone on my plane were on their way to Fargo for the marathon. Listening in on all their conversations, it was apparent, that if you were a runner and you were traveling to Fargo for a marathon, you were a serious runner. Meaning, you have some great goal, like the 50 states. For you runners, I haven’t had a chance to check it out that much yet, but go to www.marathontours.com this one girl who is averaging 2.5 marathons a month for the next 2 years was talking about it.The expo was a decent size. It was in the Fargo dome (a sports arena). I got in and out pretty quickly, the shirts were long sleeved with a zipper and I now have another runner’s bag. The evening before the race, I met Stephanie, John and Bess’ daughter and we got along well. She went over the marathon map with me and offered to take me around the course, but I didn’t want to see the course until I was on it.Something interesting to note about this marathon, there was a 5K which started at 6:30am, a 10K at 7:00 the half marathon at 7:30 and the marathon and relay teams at 8:00 and they were all pretty different courses. Usually I would think since the marathon is the furthest distance, it would start first. Who knows the method to the madness here.John took me to the dome at about 6:30am (which is about 2 miles away from their house and easy traffic!). It started to rain and when I looked at the Doppler, it looked as if we would have rain the whole time, though the weather man said overcast, humid and in the 70s with strong winds around noon.At the dome, I found the ‘secret’ bathrooms where there was no line. Now, if you have done a big race, you know this is a HUGE jackpot! I texted with Rachel A some, as I was trying to figure out if I should change my running wear since the Doppler showed rain for the entire run. I ended up not changing, and gear checked my bag about 20 minutes before the start. I lined up by the 3:40 sign, which I quickly confirmed what I was noticing at the airport: The runners at this race were the non-chatty competitive type, so I wasn’t lucking out with finding someone to run many miles with. The pace leader for 3:40 was extremely organized and you could tell she was set on keeping her pace consistent. BUT she had no personality whatsoever. And anytime I spoke, I felt like I got this look from her trying to tell me that this is her show (I’m sorry but I’m a natural born pace leader, I can’t help but be vocal in the running scene). Before the start, not only was the national anthem sang, but Oh Canada was too. There was also a prayer, which though the one-on-one vibe with people seemed so cold and not fun, the prayer just seemed to make the race feel more like a community. That was Fargo standing out. My conclusion here is Fargo is filled with wonderful people, but the marathon attracts all those competitive people who aren’t so wonderful or at least not really caring to enjoy everything around them but are just focused on the start and finish.When we started, I decided I didn’t want to run by the pace leader with no personality, and I decided to take the crash and burn gamble: Run at what feels comfortable even if it might be too fast. My splits started at 8:15, and went down to 8:00 around mile 3. It felt good so I figure I would stick with it which meant I could go slower later…or I could possibly rock it and finish at something even more amazing than 3:40.Around mile 1, there was a tree that fell on an electrical wire that came crashing down on the course (just to the front and left of me). Luckily nobody was hurt, but just kind of a freak thing that happened. Around mile 2, I realized maybe I didn’t need my hat, as the rain stopped and my head was hot. So I ended up taking it off and held onto it. We crossed over to Minnesota for a few miles, and crossed back over. I was noticing that the water stops weren’t all that great. The first was around mile 3, which they weren’t set up so it was either stop and wait for water, or keep going. I kept going. As my uncle says “drink fluids early and often” that wasn’t an option at Fargo, unless you carried your own. The next water stop was around mile 5 and it was warming up. I could feel the heat radiating out of my body. Miles 9-15 was when I started to already get a little tired. I managed to keep an 8-8:15 mile until the half where my energy level was slipping. I just thought how tired I was, and how I would like to just take a nap. Ummm, something is wrong with that picture, who wants to NAP mid marathon? I mean stopping and walking is one thing, but I just wanted to sleep. We ran through a lot of neighborhoods, twisting and turning through, I never really knew where I was and where was going, as the houses all looked the same. I just knew around mile 15 we were out of that neighborhood then it was some straight back and forth with the final turn heading back north around mile 20. Just before mile 15 we had some water, and then, shockingly, the next water wasn’t until sometime after mile 18! Luckily some of the people in the community were giving out water, so I had water from one of them. I significantly slowed down and knew what I was feeling was dehydration. When I finally got to the long waited for water, I walked and downed 2 cups of PowerAde and 2 cups of water.This is where my mind surrendered from a Boston Qualifying race, to just getting state #17 done as close to 3:40 as possible. Just after mile 19 we were turning a corner, and this relay girl was to the left of me, and it was the curb to the right of me and approaching a puddle. The girl kind of locked me in, so I had to leap over the puddle. Mid air both legs got the bubbly lactic acid cramps. I luckily landed that jump without falling, but had to stop until the limping went back to walking. Seriously? We weren’t even at mile 20 yet. I decided this race was going to go into the category of bad marathon. This doesn’t just mean bad time, but it means a struggle to keep going as strong as possible- whatever that may be. The goal now was to keep a positive attitude, remind myself everything would be alright because I would finish.Around mile 20 the 3:40 pace group passed me. Luckily also at mile 20 the water stops picked up to every mile, though, umm I’m pretty sure this far into the race, you can’t reverse your dehydration, you can just prevent it from getting worse. The sun was shining and with the humidity, I was beyond hot, where I was no longer caring whether or not I get tan.Then, another turn; My Garmin was reading greater distances than the mile marker (again), I was trying to be as efficient on the course as possible. The roads are also definitely ‘up north’ roads that are damaged by the cold, snow and salt, so they aren’t smooth. I twisted my ankle and went down but caught myself quickly. My ankle wasn’t really hurting and I somehow didn’t cramp up through this, but my breathing was off. I don’t know if I was just worked up or hyperventilating, but I felt like I had asthma and I couldn’t get enough air through my passage way. You could tell the spectators were a little nervous, I mean, yes it sucks as bad as it looked, but, marathoners manage to figure their way back to ‘normal’ enough to finish the race. I brought in some yoga breathing and tried to cough until it felt like the air passageway was better. (Around now that’s when the Shawn Mullin’s song played on my ipod and I decided that would be a good race write-up name) I decided I didn’t care if I was above 4 hours at this point but it didn’t mean I could fully give up. If my legs could run, they were going to run…so I ran until I got a cramp or hit a hill (yes there were actually a few hills in Fargo). The walking was short, maybe no more than 10 steps when I would do it, but still, I felt like it made a world of a difference. The wind also picked up which dirt and dust was then blowing all around and in my eyes, just another obstacle, but minimal compared to the cramps (the wind was so strong it was blowing down the “road closed” signs)I was walking around mile 25 when I saw Stephanie. She didn’t have to say much of anything, but seeing her, handing off my hat and having her walk a few steps with me, somehow let all the negative energy evaporate and take me to the finish. I did stop two more times, but I realized I could at least get a sub 3:50 marathon, so I gave it my all on the last .5 miles, somehow (don’t ask me how), kicking it to a 7:45. The last .05 miles was INTO the Dome, which was probably one of the coolest finishes you could have. Spectators not just on the sidelines but the seats were filled.So, everything was alright, and I did finish within 10 minutes of the Boston Qualifying time, so it’s just another marathon to make me stronger. Out of my sub 4 hour marathons, this one was the toughest one I pushed through. In Philly, I succumbed to my negative attitude, so I guess it’s just a great feat I didn’t let my negative attitude take over me on this race, because I knew, everything would be alright.***Note post writing this. My flight back from Fargo: I finally met some nice runners on the flight back. There were some guys that were with the female winner. She was on my flight back to Chicago and I realized she was also on my flight to Fargo. I find it interesting that she was over by the lady talking all about her 2.5 marathons averaged a month, but she never once said anything about how much of a rock star she is. Very modest, I’m a fan. I also made friends with another 50 stater, Jeff. Fargo was his 28th state, and we learned we have been at some of the same races at the same time. Jeff is speedy, he said he thought about re-doing all the states and try to have them all sub 3 hours, but he has started to plateau so they have been just above the 3 hour mark lately….we all have our own goals to push for as we complete the 50 states.