13.1 miles and counting

Half our gang in the start chute. I started with our marathoners.

Mile 8.5ish. Still moving strong!

Done! And enjoying a nice post-race beer.

13.1 miles done at this year's Dallas White Rock Half Marathon. And boy, am I happily surprised with my performance!

2006 time: 2.04.40
2008 time: 2.06.02


1 minute, 22 seconds separated me from a PR - with no training! Now, I'm not condoning racing without training, but ccan I please get a high five for that? My body can carry me 13 miles at a 9.37 pace with hardly any training....and I'm still moving. :)

The race course did change for the half - I wasn't too thrilled with it as much as years before, but it still worked. I did miss running the last few miles on Swiss Avenue, seeing downtown come into view; instead, I got view of Katy Trail and bushes on either side, not knowing where the end was coming. It made it for a dreary last 5k.

Weather - um, was it May in Dallas today? It was in the 60s, sunny at the end. Beautiful day for running - however, we all could have done without the 20+ mph gusts of wind! Definitely took some energy out of everyone and made it difficult for PRing (so maybe I did actually PR!).

Congrats to everyone who did the half and the full today! Great day and thanks to my hubby for following us all around, cheering us on and taking photos. It was very easy to spot you in your helmet and bike gear. :)

The race of no return

Not quite ready to do a full race report on Longhorn 70.3 for several reasons, but I can provide a quick overview:

Swim was short (I prefer to think fast, though)
Bike was NOT just "rolling hills"
Run was a hike

All in all, I finished. And I finished better than my last half iron distance race more than two years ago yet didn't get a PR. So at least it wasn't my worse time.

I'm still recovering, obviously. And still feeling dehydrated.

More to come...

CapTex Race Report - FINALLY!

A couple weeks late, but at least it's here...my CapTex Olympic tri race report.

The race was hard. Period. By the time I was on the run I decided I was going to try to survive the race as well as finish the race. It's always humid in Austin, but it had been especially hot and humid all week all over Texas - May 2008 was the 8th hottest May on record since 18-hundred-something. Last year this race was rained out (flooded out!) and the year before I was a spectator, and I've lived in Austin for four years attending UT, so I know the heat. But I never know what my body's going to do in hot races.

I wasn't absolutely worried about my swim or run, as I had been training the most in those events - but I had hardly done much with my bike except for 1 or 2 rides a week. However, my bike - as usual - was my strongest event. My swim time was shocking - I thought I could do better - and my run was just down right ugly, but during the run I started not caring...

My only stipulation was that I beat my one and only other Olympic time which was a 3:15. I was really aiming for a 2:50 and really thought I could do it, but my body was not into it.

The breakdown:

1500m swim: 32:42 (2:11/M) - 504/1442

T1: 4:09 (damn wetsuit stuck on my arms!)

40k bike: 1:12:49 (20.4MPH) - 449/1442

T2: 2:44 (thanks to my new Zoots I bought at the expo the previous day!)

10k run: 1:11:09 (11:27/M) - 971/1442

TOTAL: 3:03:36

Total rank: 680/1442

AG rank: 30/124

Female rank: 180/570

When you look at the rankings, it really does not look bad at all. I mean, I still ranked in the top half of the field overall, and the top quarter of my age group! I should feel really, really good about that, right? But how can you feel good about a 11:27 minute/mile pace? I do have a medical reason for this though - turns out I was on the verge of heatstroke. Had goosebumps since the bike and was starting to get disoriented on the run. But I did manage to power through it, although at a slow pace.

My ugly finish had me barely making it over the finish line and then being rescued by a med official before collapsing to my knees. I do want to say thank you to all the med volunteers in the med tent. They kept an eye on me and made me feel better even though I was wrapped up in cold towels and then shivering violently. About 45 minutes later, I was able to walk around and had an appetite for pizza and popsicles.

All in all, it was a fun race, but brutally hot and humid. My one complaint/suggestion is that they could by far use more Gatorade on the course. Having it at only one aid station for two loops doesn't cut it for that heat. At least one more chance to get something other than water would be awesome.

Oh, and Bryon got 2nd overall (or 3rd - he received 2nd at the awards ceremony and is 3rd online) in Clydesdale. What a stud. :)

So far behind

I'm so far behind on my posts, it makes it so hard to catch up! I do owe a race report for last weekend's CapTex. I guess you can say I'm still recovering from my heatstroke and spending 45+ minutes in the med tent this past Sunday. But, all is well, although I have yet to do a workout since the race. Oops!

One week till MC200!

Driving down the 101

My sister and me at her graudation

Whew. What a weekend. I actually left this town and left my laptop and work behind! (Although I will admit I did - briefly! - check my email on Saturday.) Hence my lack of posting, as well. So I'll try to catch you up...

Thursday afternoon I left for LA and actually ended up flying with my parents (we didn't book them together), which was nice. Bryon met us at the airport and we drove off into the sunset of Santa Monica...or at least into all the smog.

I love SoCal! Of course it had to be the hottest weekend of the year, so far, for them (temps were beating records set back in 1880-something!), but it was fun nonetheless. Saw William Shatner at LAX picking up luggage next to us, and my parents were antique shopping in Santa Monica next to Marcia Cross. Bryon got to see the Hollywood sign up close for the first time and down Sunset Blvd and Rodeo Drive. Ugh - I do hate the LA traffic though. (Where do all these people come from? And how are you able to go to the beach on an early Friday afternoon??)

The R's take Hollywood!

Friday morning, bright and early, we went to the USC campus to see my sister graduate. I was happy to say I got her her first piece of alumni gear! It was very exciting but extremely hot and stuffy, especially in the tent we were stuck in for 2+ hours! We saw her walk, helped her move out of her "apartment" (it was an attic added on to an o-l-d house that looked like it could be blown over with one puff of air), and made it to the beach for a couple of hours before we met up again for dinner.

My workout for that day: 5+ miles of walking in 93+ heat, all before noon!

Saturday was busy busy too - Bryon and I woke up and ran 6.5 miles down the Santa Monica/Venice Beach boardwalk. It didn't seem like 6.5 miles but it was - we were so distracted by the variety of people that show up! Plus, it was the first visit for Bryon so he was quite amused. And bewildered. He didn't realize that area was so dirty... After the run we rushed to get ready and went to the 3rd Street Promenade to meet the family for breakfast and shopping, took off for the Hollywood Hills and then came back for dinner at an Italian restaurant in the Promenade that Bryon and I ate at Thursday night (but it was really, really good - but the service SUCKED!).

Sunday, we raced. Of course! Can't take us R's anywhere without wanting to race. We did the Playa del Run Santa Monica aquathlon - 1000m ocean swim and 5k run. It was small and Bryon and I could actually place our transition spots next to each other, as well as start at the same time! And dang the water was cold! 63 degrees. And then we had to trek what seemed FOREVER up the beach through soft sand to get to our shoes. My legs were shot from the days of walking the whole weekend and I definitely wasn't fresh, but it was good to do a race and get an ocean/wetsuit swim in, and before CapTex this weekend! I did do what I estimated I would although I know my run could be faster. The ocean current was strong, and there were 3-4 swells that you were paddling through and all of a sudden you were stroking through air and not water 4 feet high - what a rollercoaster ride that was, so my swim time was fine with me. Plus, I finished right before Bryon! I finally got to a point in the swim at the end where I could stand up and start running out and for some reason I look behind me and there's Bryon popping up from a wave! We were at our transition spots at the same time and Bryon offered to help me out of my wetsuit, but I said no - I didn't want to keep him behind! The run was tough - I think I swallowed too much salt water and the heat was pounding down. But I kicked it in gear after getting over a stomach cramp and finished in 50 minutes.

What you don't see in the below photo is our two plates of Krispy Kreme donuts and croissant rolls! Yum. :)

The R's after the race. We tried to show those LA Tri people what's up. But uh, they were pretty fast...

After the race we cleaned up, packed, laid by the pool, said bye to my family and left for the airport. Again - whew!

Now it's Tuesday, and I haven't done anything remotely active... eek!

Oh, and can't forget - it's supposed to rain all weekend not only in Dallas, but Austin as well!! This better not be a repeat from last year when it was rained out!

Tri-McKinney race report

As of last week, Bryon and I hadn't made much of a start to our racing season. Signing up for today's Tri-Historic McKinney sprint tri was a 'do or never get off the pot' kind of race because we were lacking motivation to sign up for anything.

We woke up to lots of rain and below 60 temps (which it's been 60+ in the mornings, 80+ during the day, so this was cooold!). Driving in the rain at 5:30 in the morning makes you realize what a great day it is to sleep in and stay in bed all day. But, we stuck it through and made it the race site. We get to the race and realize that the wind is so strong! Ugh, not something I was looking forward to.

But I had a great day! (And so did Bryon!) Go Team Richardson!

The tri was a 300y pool swim, 15.3 mile bike and 5k run. The swim was great (5:02 - would have been under 5 if I didn't have to wait for the guy in front of me to climb off the ladder); 52:45 bike (damn 30+mph winds and rain!); and 26:35 run (REALLY good for me!). In fact, that run is my new PR by 4 seconds - and off the bike too! I'd love to see what I can do this year in a stand-alone 5k... I couldn't even feel my feet off the bike for the first mile it was so cold. And there were a few times I almost wiped out because it was muddy and wet.

I was slotted to start 61 out of 300+, and ended up finishing 58 overall, 13 overall female, 1st in 25-29. Not bad for a nasty day.

IM Arizona 2008 race report

Starting to hear back race reports from IM AZ yesterday, and it doesn't sound any better than last year. The wind and heat were factors again and it sounds like even more athletes weren't able to finish the grueling 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run.

I have to admit, it wasn't fun. If you read my report from last year's race, not only did distance take a toll on me, but being beaten up by the wind for so long wore on me. When you're on the bike and you start wishing you could just go straight for miles and miles instead of facing the turnaround with the 40+mph winds to finish, there's something wrong. I despised that turnaround. I would start tearing up just at the thought of the turnaround - and not because I only had 25+ miles to go until I got off the darn bike.

If you raced yesterday, I'd love to hear how it went. Nothing like sharing sob stories - I mean life-defining stories. And congratulations to all the starters and finishers. You are an Ironman!