Dog Watch Fun Run
After a “I double dog dare you to ask me how my day was” Monday, I was a little fragile Tuesday a.m. not to mention really worn out from two races, a bike ride, and being on my best behavior (and out past my bed time) at the Worcester Country Club for the in-law’s 50th wedding anniversary dinner Sunday night.
I tooed and froed about an easy run during the day. My aching hip and exploding eMail won out and I decided the fun run on Tuesday would be an easy run, 11 minute mile, what do the pros call it a ‘shake out’ run, just to keep things moving help the aches and pains calm down a bit.
Well it ended up being a decent 5K for me, huh. When Stephen shouted out something that sounded like 14:30 at the ½ way mark I thought, huh, and checked my watch. Wow… I just ran along not really pushing it and enjoying the scenery. The Borough really is an interesting and beautiful place. My tight calf felt better, my hip, well it is still a little tender and I need to pay some special attention to it and get back to my at home PT. I've been slacking.
It was nice to catch up with Buzz and find out he is feeling ok after kidney stones kept him out of the Blessing. The usual crowd was there to enjoy a beer and good conversation!
First REAL Bike Ride
As I was leaving the house this a.m. recapping the agenda for the day, explaining that I had a late meeting and was going to take a ride tonight and wouldn't be home for dinner, Hubb pitched in that he had his RC club meeting so he wouldn't be home till late ahhh, I have the evening to goof around and do Beth stuff, yeah!! He did ask if I’d been to spin class lately? Oh awesome idea! I quick grabbed my shoes and stuffed the bike gear into my overstuffed gym bag. I am so glad I did this. There is a spin class at noon (Mon and Wed).
After the 20 minute discussion on clips and pedals at the bike store, my head spun. I like my mountain bike shoes, and even more that the clip is protected or rather the floor is protected from the clip by the lugs. Sure the shoes may be a bit heavier, nothing that I notice.
After Spin class I noticed one of the gals shoes and asked about them. She said that they are mountain bike shoes, so not exactly the right shoe for road cycling, however they are much more comfortable than her road shoes, plus the whole lug protecting the clip or floor thing. Another gal pitched in that she too used the mountain bike shoes the lugs protect the clip and the floor and if you intend on doing any type of walking, even a few feet, you were better off, even with the few extra ounces. They both agreed their mountain bike shoe was way more comfortable than the road bike shoe. I felt so validated that I stuck with the same shoes I already had. I’ll figure the whole shoe thing out as I go along. I am sure there are many more things to figure out, there were with running. Trial and error till you get what works for you.
Decided to bike to Watch Hill then out to Misquamicut after work. Thinking I needed a little side view mirror for my helmet I stopped at Mystic Cycle shop on my way home and they sold me this mirror that went on the handlebar cap... I had a good view of my leg, I already know what that looks like, I wanted to see traffic behind me. Guess that will be going back? Or I may read the directions? Could go either way.
It was a nice ride and I didn't feel scared with the traffic. The only heart stopping moment was someone coming out of no where on their bike and me nearly crashing into her and her looking at me like I had 2 heads. She was going the wrong way, bikes are supposed to follow the traffic pattern right? She was coming up a one way street she should have been going down... I'm sticking to that story and being a bit more careful.
Sincerely,
Beth, digging this bike and looking forward to a NYC rest day and a little stroll to Bryant Park for lunch!
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Sealegs Shuffle 10 miler - Recap
Bib pick up started at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the Branford soundRUNNER store, so I took the scenic route from Killingworth to Branford, CT on rte 80. CT really does have some beautiful drives, even in the rain it was lovely.
The gal handed me the sheet to find my number, number 2 I said a little questioningly. She pulled bib #2 and said, “Beth?” “Yep that is me” Bibs were issued in order of sign up. Wow… that drunk woman who signs me up for races has impeccable timing!
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| Hubb now has a nice yellow tech shirt to ride in! |
After not really sleeping well, even though the FitBit says I got 6 hours of sleep and wasn't all that restless, I felt like crap. Showered, fed the dogs, and picked up my bag of stuff for the race and plodded out the door.
Arriving at the Guilford Fairgrounds I wished I had brought a cap the sun was bright, not hot, just bright and unrelenting I was pleased I packed a light fleece as it was chilly. In fact it was really good racing weather.
This was the first time I had witnessed the phenomena of the men’s bathroom line longer and slower than the women’s. Yes, REAL bathrooms pre-race!
All the 10 mile runners were rounded up at the start and I think this is the first race where they didn't play the national anthem, that seemed weird. The gun went off and then I realized this was gun timed, not chip timed, so I was about 10 seconds off the times shouted out at the mile markers.
I thought this was going to be a flatish course, on the shore and all. It wasn't it wasn't hilly either, there were bumps, hard to call them hills. Some of them felt killer, could it be that someone’s legs were a teensy bit tired and she was letting her mind take over what the machine can do?
The first few miles were nice, sun at my back, I could run with my old dependable running partner, my shadow. I noted how less often, hardly every I needed to remind myself there was a string off the top of my head, as Don says, pulling me up to run with my back straight. Things have changed a lot in the last year. Beautiful course to observe, nice runners, great volunteers, funny conversations going on, and lots of bikes. And my mind wandered back to my bike and how much I’d rather be riding and when would my next ride be!?!?
During miles 5 and 6 I ran with a lovely British woman. She said, “Mind if I pace with you a bit?” Absolutely not! We talked about past races and upcoming races and this is along her normal running route and the hills are tough. She was running the “Reach the Beach” relay in September. I told her “My old boss asked me to run that with him, he is British.” I let out a little chuckle, and finished with “It’s a small country do you think you know him? She laughed and said there were no other Brits on her team and we don’t all know each other. She asked where I lived and I said Westerly, Rhode Island, we talked about the local area and she laughed and said “I know someone who lives, there, it’s a small state, do you think you know her?” I wished her well as I dropped back. Nice conversation. Wish I could remember her name.
During mile 7 I managed to convince myself there was no earthly way I was running a marathon then I reminded myself I had run two, so that wasn't an excuse, and now was not the time to be making those decisions anyhow.
During mile 8 there was a water station. The gal said “Gatorade here, water back.” I said “I’d love a Gatorade with a water back!” Ahhh… yeah I’d of rather a whiskey with a water back, beggars can’t be chooser, now can the!?! No matter what my sense of humor and sarcasm rarely leaves me! The gal shouted out the time when I passed mile marker 8, 88 minutes. Whoop!! I was all excited I was going to meet my goal of 100 minutes for this 10 mile race. I picked up my pace a bit to be sure to stay under a 12 minute mile, it was very hard to lift and turn my legs over, but I only had a mile to go. Then I started noticing an unusual number of people doing a cool down. Huh…
Mile marker 9 was approaching, the end, where were all the crowds of people? Where was the finish line? Wait the fair grounds are back there. Then someone said a mile to go. Oh crap, this is a 10 mile race ding bat, they aren't cooling down they are running towards the finish line. Feeling a little silly there was a mile left to run I walked a few steps at mile marker 9, sucked it up and ran till the end.
Sincerely,
Beth, glad to be done with the series
Monday, August 5, 2013
Killingworth 4 miler – Recap and a new bike!
The 6th race of the 7th I needed to complete for the Shoreline Race Series was Saturday a.m. 8:30 start time in Killingworth, CT. Yes, again I drove for longer than I ran, but after the race I was able to drive up to Branford and pick up my race bib for Sunday’s race.
Bib pick up was day of, starting at 7:30. I managed to get up and out and was there pretty close to 7:30 as they were just starting to pass out bibs. Doubtful I needed an hour, and had only planned on being there 30 minutes early. Seems like no one really explains their logic with the check in sheets to the volunteers checking people in. The poor man realized he gave out the wrong bib numbers, he was going by the line number and not the bib number. Hopefully this didn't make things to wonky at the end. I’m remembering the same thing happening for the Frosty 5K (the first race in the series), when my bib was given out to someone else, their line number was the same as my bib number. Now I think I understand why people put the stickers on the back with the runners name and other info?
It was cool and raining, drizzling probably describes it best, better than heat and humidity any day. The runners gathered around under trees. I was surprised at the number of dogs. There was one woman with a small yellow lab and we struck up a conversation. Her pup is 2 and ready to run, she says the dog keeps her going and that she did! Even after the 4 miles her pup was still ready to rumble!!
This was a nice course! I didn’t check the elevation on the course profile, just noted it was a square with a little out and back. The first 2 miles were mostly downhill. What goes down must come up, and I kept waiting, wondering when, it never really felt like it did until the last ¾ of a mile. And I got a CR on Strava for my effort in that segment, cool…
In any event, my goal was 40 minutes and my gun time was 39:24! Solidly meeting goal. 12th out of 20 for my Division, creeping up on being middle of the pack!
New Bike
Saturday afternoon hubb and I were off to Stedman’s for some bike shopping. I go into these things with the idea to purchase. All I know is what I’m willing to spend and the level of components we should be looking for. Of course red would be my preferred color. I know what I like and don’t like about my mountain bike and how that feels. After a lot of discussion and explanation of the different types of bikes, finally out for a couple test rides to find the right sized bike. I landed on one I liked the feel of, full carbon frame, the price was far more than I was willing to, or even should spend on a first road bike. The next level bike was the same dimensions just different material, aluminum with a carbon fork. I took that for a spin around the block and it felt just a little more stiff than the higher end model but with a pair of gloves and bike shorts all would be right with the world. Plus it was so much more comfortable and lighter than my mountain bike.
Talked with one of the guys I know through running the races he puts on in the winter. Nice to finally introduce Hubb to one of these guys. They had met a few weeks earlier at a bike time trial or something.
I left very pleased with my purchase and anxious to go for a ride. Hubb installed the clips that went with the pedals in my shoes and I practiced getting in and out of them. I never used the clips mountain biking. Knowing how often I crash and how quickly I don’t think, it was best to just not tempt fate and lock myself on the bike. It wasn't so difficult getting in and out and I didn't feel insecure and went out for a little spin up and down the road. Hubb insisted I remove the reflectors, don’t be a dork Beth…
The second one came off later.
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| New Bike |
After getting all appropriately dressed and helmeted I took a spin around the neighborhood and then tackled the hills. Yeah, someone has a 10 mile race in the a.m. but it is along the shore, so how hilly could it be?? The ride was fun and I would have loved to go longer, however my legs were tired and I was tired and it was time to spend some time with the Hubb and the pups who have been very much ignored lately.
Apparently some further adjustments need to be made to the shoes / clips… Seemed fine to me but what do I know?
Sincerely,
Beth one more race re-cap in the wings... happy for a rest day today, well just TRX
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