First Group Ride

Today's group workout was the first group bike ride. I woke up at 5:30 am to get out by 6 am and meet up with the group in Lincolnshire at 7 am. I had to borrow Andy's cousin's car b/c Andy has our car in MI this weekend and I set with a quarter tank of gas. I accidentally wound up in the express lane instead of local on 94 and missed my exit. I was planning on getting gas on the way there if I had time, but once I realized I went way out of my way, I lost time. Plus I took the wrong turn off the expressway and added even more to the trip. After stopping in two parking lots in the Old School Forest Preserve, I finally joined up with the group at 7:20 and yes, the gas light was on. At that point, I was just glad I didn't miss the ride and was able to get my crap together, hop on my bike and mentally prepare for a 43.5 mile ride. The ride was good overall--some rough areas on the roads and very strong winds. I realized I was getting a little too competitive with some of the women when I would see one ahead and push to pass, but hey, it's all part of the training I guess. However, I have to say there are some amazingly strong women in this group! This is not some whimpy club--I think there may even be a few ringers among us! Just about every woman I talk to has done at least one marathon, most have done several. To each her own.

I completed the three loops (one loop=14.5 miles) in decent time--I didn't count it exactly but probably around 3 hours or so. I almost didn't make it home-gas stations along 94 are like lakes in a desert!

The run tomorrow is either 60 or 70 minutes. That seems like a lot right now. But then I think about my sister, who is running the Bayshore Marathon next Saturday, and I realize how much of a whimp I am when it comes to running.

She's trying to qualify for Boston, which means she's shooting to average 8:30-45 min. miles. For 26.2 miles!! And she's been triaining in that range, which amazes me. She looks absolutely amazing and I think she's going to do it! If not, she'll be pretty close. She said if she doesn't make it, she'll still be happy she completed a marathon after getting ACL surgery (terrible triad to be exact) just two years ago. She's just amazing, that's all I can say!

By the way, this is a picture of my dad, sister and I after we did the Ludington sprint triathlon and duathlon. She placed second overall for women in the duathlon and my dad got second in his age group. It was one of the top ten best days of my life.

Dad is Living with Grace

So my dad emailed me the other day and I had to include his email here. It's slightly masochistic and morbid, but funny.

Hi Elena-

Have you checked out this website http://www.djsteveboy.com/podrunner.html ? I exercised on the spin cycle to “Prodigious,” and it was awesome. There is a song toward the end with the following line "Living with Grace." I pictured myself running with my heart monitor strapped on my chest , pulse oximeter on my finger, core temperature probe in place and the GPS system connected to my iPhone playing this music into my ear plugs. Suddenly it was interrupted by that woman's voice that you hear on the Garmin device with that same tone that she uses to inform you that you just missed your right hand turn. Only she was saying, "you're running at a 9 minute mile pace, Al. She knows my pulse, respiratory rate, core temperature, oxygenation level and the distance that I have gone. She knows I can do better, so she informs me by stepping up the beat and turning up the volume. The message is clear. I run faster. “We have detected a problem, Al. You need to stop running immediately and look for a soft place to lie down. Our communication lines are open, so please tell us your name. We can't hear you Al. Please speak louder. Don't be alarmed by that loud noise that you are hearing, we are summoning help. Somebody will be with you shortly. You did not purchase the chest strap with the defibrillator, so we cannot administer this service. We love you Al, and we hope the best for you and your family.” Living became “dying with Grace.”

The First Three Weeks

So I've completed the first 3 weeks of the CES half ironman training. So far, I've had some great workouts, helpful clinics and met some wonderful people. During each group workout I am reminded that this program was an excellent investment. I've gotten to know some fantastically determined, disciplined and friendly people. The longer runs are up to roughly 70 minutes right now with our last run being a 10k time trial. I had to do the 10k time trial on my own since I was in Michigan for mother's day. I had no idea what my pace could be for 6.2 miles. I set off at a clip I am not accustomed to early Saturday morning with my father, who is currently training for a maybe marathon. He's not 100% sure about the marathon quite yet, but I'd like to think this is his year, too. I think he took a short cut after about 3.5 miles--he's not quite there yet. I finished at about 53:55, so I was fairly happy with that. I had no idea what to expect, so sub 9s is fine with me.

My dad wrote a hilarious email about a recent bike training he did. My next post will be his email.

Happy tris!