Baylor Tom Landry Tri: Time to Tri Again

I had an absolute blast at the St Paddy's Day Tri, my first triathlon, on March 15.  I really enjoyed the new challenge that it presented and I jumped at the opportunity to try it again, this time at the Baylor Tom Landry Tri presented by our friends at Tri-Now Endurance on April 19.  The swim and bike were both a little bit longer than the St Paddy's Day race and I thought it was a great chance to bump up those distances.  We also love supporting Coach Frank and Debra and looked forward to participating at one of their events instead of volunteering.

Mary: Finish Line Coordinator Extraordinaire

Swim
Last year Mr K, Keith, Becky, and James all trained together for their spring goal races (Ironman Texas 70.3 for Mr K, Keith, and Becky and Ironman Texas for James).  They seemed to have the most fun together training and racing and I was finally able to be a part of their little club as we waited together for the swim to start.  The swim was 400 meters (100 meters longer than the St Paddy's swim), but I was a little relieved to see that the lanes were 25 meters instead of 50 meters. Those 50 meter lanes felt so loooonnnnng!!  Of course, 25 meter lanes meant 2-way swimming in the lanes and therefore more traffic.  The first swimmers hit the pool in a frenzy!  So fast!  It was a little bit nerve-wracking watching them go as there were so many near collisions!  Thankfully, the pace slowed as more and more swimmers entered the pool.  I watched James, Keith, Mr K, and Becky take off and then it was my turn.  My swim during my 1st tri wasn't bad, but I wanted to feel even better about it during my 2nd attempt.  As I got to the end of each lane, I squared up and got a good start at the next length - thinking only of one lap at a time.  Sometime during the 2nd or 3rd lap I noticed that my timing chip felt pretty loose on my ankle.  I was not about to lose my timing chip in the bottom of the pool and I stopped at the end of one of the lanes and attempted to re-affix it.  This happened one other time during the swim and a couple of lane later I stopped and tightened it as much as I could.  The other people swimming around me did not bother me, but I was pleased to find myself in a "pocket" of low traffic for the second half of the swim.  I was happy to see the last lane and gave it my best shot to add some speed to my closing lap.  My time ended at 11:26, certainly nothing to write home about - but I felt good about the swim and that was the goal for the day.

Hanging with Coach Frank and the Tri-Now Gang

Bike
The distance from the pool to the transition area seemed fairly long, but much of it was on grass which beats running barefoot on pavement.  It felt like I was there forever, trying to get my bolero on wet arms and tying my shoes - but my total time was 3:01.  I'm looking forward to those transitions getting speedier with practice.  The beginning of the bike course took us over some of the famous Dallas potholes, but that didn't last too long.  I am still learning how hard I can go on the bike, so I gave it my best.  It is a good feeling to pass people and I didn't get passed until near the end.  The bike course was 16 miles and an out-and-back so I was able to prepare for what would be coming my way on the return.  It was also fun to look for my friends as they headed back to T2.  We rode into the wind on the outbound trip and there were hills both ways.  I'm not really in bike shape right now and I'm certainly not in hill shape so I was okay with my time of 55:47 (17.2 mph).

Run
I felt like my T2 time was faster than T1, and it was at 2:30.  The girl next to me came in as I was tying my shoes and was out of there just ahead of me.  She would end up winning our age group and her transition time was a blazing 48 seconds!  I have so much to learn and practice! I passed her in the first quarter mile of the run and she cheered "yay 40 year old!"  I love being able to see what age group people are in by looking at the back of their leg - tells me who my competition is!  Running off the bike is never easy, but I try to go into it with an open mind.  I am usually surprised to see that I am running faster than I feel like I am.  The run course was also an out-and-back and it is such a mental boost to hit the turn around - home stretch, baby!  I saw Keith, Mr K, and Becky out there and that also gave me a huge boost.  The final half mile or so was on a beautiful, winding track in a garden-type area.  It took us past the finish line where I saw Mary (finish line coordinator extraordinaire) and the rest of the gang waiting for me.  That last little bit felt like it took forever and I focused on passing anyone who was in my path.  Finally, finally the finish line was in sight and I ran as hard as I could towards it for a 5K time of 25:39 - a full minute faster than my run at St Paddy's Day Tri.  I was so proud of my run, it was not that far off of my 5K PR and it was the fastest in my age group by 2 minutes!  I received my medal from Mary and felt quite grateful to be done.  We had a great time taking pictures with the Dallas BIG letters (I am a sucker for these things - well done, Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau) and chowing down on burgers and chips.

I was curious about the final results as this race had a smaller field and I did not notice anyone else in my age group ahead of me (unless they were wayyyyy ahead of me!).  Imagine my surprise when I found that I was 2nd place in my age group!  The cool thing about triathlons is that you get to stand on a real podium when you receive your award!  I was over the moon with excitement!  A podium finish in my second triathlon!

To say that this was a confidence boost would be an understatement.  I have so much to learn and practice, but I feel really good about my beginnings in the world of triathlon.  I am so looking forward to extending my distances and fine tuning my training.  I can't wait to do it again!

Tal Morrison 15K: Taking a Gamble

I have found my racing to be stuck in a bit of a rut lately.  I dread the plateau that can come with running and racing year after year, so I've been thinking of things that I can do to shake things up a bit.  I love half marathons and have found that they tend to dominate my calendar so one idea I had was to run shorter races and try my hand at triathlon this spring.  As luck would have it, the Dallas Running Club monthly club race on April 4th was the Tal Morrison 15K.  Tal Morrison founded the Dallas Running Club back in 1967 and this race honors him each spring.  I have enjoyed the handful of 15Ks that I have run in the past because the distance is roughly a loop around White Rock Lake - and therefore, one I am quite familiar with.  It is far enough to feel like a "long" run but short enough that it can be taken at a tempo pace.

Hanging with our DRC Peeps (Pic: Mark O)

I checked my 15K PR before heading out to the race - 1:19:30 from January 2010 - and knew that it would be quite a challenge to beat it.  But I kept an open mind and decided to see what the day would bring me.  We had very warm and humid mornings in the week heading into the race, but were graced with an incredible cold front the night before.  With temperatures in the 50s and bright sunshine, I knew that this might be the last "good" racing day until October.  There is one DRC tradition that I just LOVE and that is the playing of the National Anthem followed by the proclamation that "we are the Dallas Running Club, and today we RUN!!" How can you not be fired up by that?

Near the start of the race (Pic: Jesse)

My legs felt great out of the gate and I decided to just go with it - take a gamble, a risk - what did I have to lose?  I looked at my watch every mile or so, but basically just tried to keep the effort steady and think of the race in 3 mile segments.  I was hoping that I could post a nice negative split, but would be happy with consistent splits.  I used the first 3 mile segment to "settle in" to the pace and get used to the effort.  Those miles came in at 8:45, 8:24, 8:48 (can you tell that mile 2 has a nice downhill?).  This was the gamble that I'm talking about, but it felt good so I went with it.  

Feeling good at nearly 2 miles into the race (Pic: Jesse)

The middle segment would bring the turn around on this out-and-back course and that always gives me a big mental boost.  I worked hard to stay strong and my efforts paid off: 8:27, 8:30, 8:27.  I hit the turn around at right around 40 minutes and some change- quick math told me that if I could hold the pace I could make it to the finish at 1:20 and some change.  Challenge accepted!  I knew that the last 3 miles would be the most challenging mentally.  I have been thinking about and working on pushing past that part of my brain that is telling me that I'm tired or that I need to slow down.

Working hard just before the turn around (Pic: Jesse)

There was a runner in blue that passed me during my second section of the race.  She got a bit ahead of me, but I spotted her again around mile 7.  As soon as I approached her, she would speed up and leave me behind.  We played this game all the way to mile 8-9ish when I was finally able to pass her for good.  I had a few more targets ahead of me, including a guy in a red shirt and one Mr K.  Coming back around the lake at mile 8 was tough because we had the wind in our faces again, but I thought again about that mental toughness and pushed through.  I got past the guy in red and had that PR in sight.  I gave it all that I had, but fell just a little bit short - final miles 8:31, 8:30, 8:20 and 7:42 for the last partial mile.  Total time: 1:20:17, just 45 seconds short of my PR from 2010 and 17 seconds short of my course record from 2012.

Trying to catch my rabbit just before the finish line (Pic: Jesse)

I feel like I met many of my goals at this race: I took some risks with pacing, I pushed through those hard mental moments, and I ran some pretty nice splits (you can't even "see" that big hill in the final set of miles).  I ended up placing 4th in my age group (noted that I would have been 2nd in the one I just left behind....40 year olds don't play around!) - a total win for MK today.  And for those of you wondering if I caught Mr K...not this time, but only 2 seconds separated us in the standings.  

Grasslands Half: The Return of Mud

March weather in Texas is pretty unpredictable, and trail running can be pretty unpredictable. Combine those and you have March 21st and the Grasslands Trail Half Marathon. You just never know what you might get.  In my five years of running it, I have seen just about every condition one could imagine.  In 2010 it was my first trail race and it was pouring rain with temperatures in the 40s (and dropping).  It was snowing by nightfall! I reluctantly returned the next year only to find a super dry trail with tons of sand and warm conditions. I wasn't there in 2012, but Mr K ran the marathon and dealt with terrible heat.  In 2013 we had thunder and hail (and the famous Mr K quote "if the hail gets much bigger, take your hydration pack off and cover your head with it).  I was rewarded with perfect trail conditions and weather in 2014 and ran a smoking PR that day.  And then that brings us to 2015...and unusually wet spring....and the return of the mud.

Team K Shoes

It has been raining and raining and raining this spring.  Or at least it seems like a bunch of rain coming off of a couple of years of drought conditions.  I held out hope that the trail would drain before the race on Saturday, but I knew that the chances were not good.  My fears were confirmed as we approached the race and caught a few glimpses of the trail as it crossed the road - huge puddles of mud!  Thankfully it was not cold so I knew that it would not be an exact repeat of 2010, and I was determined to have more fun than I did on that day.

Post Race with Ninja and Elaine

We found many of our friends at the start and then the race was on.  Almost immediately I found my feet covered in mud and felt myself slipping and sliding in the mud.  I was instantly annoyed and thought about how nice it would be to just turn around.  I know people who love running in the mud, it just doesn't bother them - heck, they are even good at it!  But not me, it really just annoys me to the core.  I had a quick talk with myself and decided if I didn't change my attitude it was going to be a long and miserable day. I also reminded myself that I had friends going 26.2 and 50 miles in that mess - surely I could slog through a simple 13.1 miles.  Mr K had gotten ahead of me, but was waiting and said that he would be hanging out with me.  He likes the mud better than I do and I have no doubt that he could have left me behind on several occasions.

So. Much. Mud.

Because of the rainy weather, I have not been able to get on the trails as I intended this spring and I could feel that taking its toll a bit.  My shoes were covered in mud and became quite heavy after a while.  We even stopped a few times to "wash" them off in a clear puddle - now they were wet and muddy.  Some sections of the trail were so bad that I feared losing a shoe as I could feel the "suction"of the mud pulling against my shoe!

I kept on smiling and talking to those around me and soon enough we were at the aide station near mile 10 where Lesley had Oreos and M&Ms for us.  I could have just hung out there for a while, but she would not let me stay.  Knowing that there were only 3 miles left gave us a bit of a pep as we headed towards the finish line.

Always nice to see Byron at the race

The last mile or so of this race is always a challenge mentally as the trail takes us right past where our cars are parked before taking us back into the woods again.  The mud got thicker again through here which doubled the beat down.  I was so thankful to see the finish line and even more thankful to see that we made it in just under 2:50.  A far cry from my worst race out there (3:35 the first year) and also a far cry from my best (2:12 in 2014).

Posing with Stude

Our friends were there to cheer us in - turns out that Stude won the whole thing and Drum was second female.  I hang out with a fast crowd, y'all.  The Barnwells, the new race directors, did a terrific job providing us with an enjoyable race experience - they even provided the mud for free. The post race BBQ was delicious and well worth the time on the trail.  I can't decide if Grasslands is "the race I love to hate" or if it is "the race I hate to love," but I keep coming back year after year despite the unpredictable conditions.  I suppose that is all a part of the fun.