Rain, Rain, Rain

I guess we've been too spoiled by such nice weather for our group rides these past few weeks, because it rained ALL weekend! I couldn't complain too much since we have had a nice long run of great days. But I did complain a little. I'm a wuss about the rain. Running in it isn't too bad, as long as it's not pouring, but biking in the rain is scary and not fun.

I knew it was going to be raining Saturday morning, but I still trudged out to the swimhole at 6:30 to see what the group was up to. If there was any training going on, I'd feel guilty if I didn't show up. Turned out there were only about five of us who showed up (not including either coach, I might add!). A few were going to run instead, but that plan got scrapped too as the skies started to really open up. Rick said he was going to the gym to ride the spinning bike. Three to four hours on a spin bike? NO thank you, not for this girl! I was tired and cranky anyway, so I decided my plan was to go home and go back to sleep. The weather cleared up a little in the afternoon so I did Sunday's long run instead of the ride.

Sunday morning, it was STILL raining but I knew if I didn't ride then, it wasn't going to happen at all. So out to the swimhole I went. This time, there were 8 of us who rode. Five turned around at Venetian Isles (about a 45-mile round trip) and Marcos, Leslie and I continued on to Ft. Pike. It would have been about a 63-mile round trip, but shortly before the turnaround point I got a flat. Yay. Marcos changed it for me (while the three of us got eaten alive by swarms of biting gnats) and we made it back. 60 miles was plenty for me, even though I was supposed to ride 80. Oh well. Some days you have it, some days you just don't. At least the two hour nap I took after I got home felt good!


At the swimhole, with Stella waiting to be unleashed:

(Normally this parking lot is PACKED with cars for the weekend ride!)


Marcos: "Huh? I'm awake, I swear..."



Al, ready to ride as always:



Me, pretending to be excited about riding in the rainy wet:

(did it work? No?)

Nope, Still Don't Like It

Another long run Sunday. 14 miles today. The weather was perfect too- sunny and 70s. Normally I enjoy the alone time on these days, but for various reasons I did not want to be alone with my thoughts today. So I tried running with the Ipod. I listened to a few songs and a few chapters of my audiobook, but that was about all I could take. I ditched the Ipod after about mile 5 and was much happier.

It turned out to be a good run. About 25 mins faster than the last time I did this distance, and I felt just as good if not better than last time. It's interesting because I don't feel any different today than I did a few months ago. But comparing those two workouts to each other shows that obviously things have changed. The training must be working!

In other news, Carnival season is well underway. I went to the Krewe du Vieux parade last night, widely known as one of the most satirical and THE most "risque" parade of them all. A few years ago, this was the first Mardi Gras parade I ever saw. My mom was visiting so we both went. After the first few floats with gigantic replicas of male genitalia, swimming sperms on sticks, the walking krewe of "Pizza Sluts" with strategically placed pizza boxes (think SNL's Dick in a Box skit), we realized we weren't in Kansas anymore! The theme for this year was "Stimulus Package". Warning: pictures not family friendly...!

Race Report- Mardi Gras Half Marathon 2009

Pre-Race:
Of all the days for my Garmin to act up, of course it picks race day! I was getting dressed at about 5:40 and noticed that the screen on my Garmin was totally blank. I put it on the charger and yup, 0%. When I took it off of the charger the night before to leave it out with the rest of my clothes, it must have never gone into hibernate mode and the battery ran down. It has NEVER done that before. Go figure. I did a pretty good job at not freaking out at that point. I got picked up at 6:00 by my GNOTri teammate Marcos. The race started at 7:00 so we figured we'd be fine. But once we got to the Superdome, it was a huge free-for-all and we sat in the truck waiting in line to park for at least twenty minutes. The good thing about that though was that my Garmin had more time to charge- I had brought my laptop so it could continue charging on the drive. My warmup was running from the truck to bag check, then from bag check to the starting line. I managed one or two quick stretches along the way. The weather was perfect- about 50 degrees. I'm glad I decided not to wear anything more than a tank top and shorts. Ran into Coach Kevin and Coach Rick at the start line.


Race:
For at least the first three miles, it was insanely crowded. I couldn't get a good rhythm going. The buildings in the FQ were messing up the Garmin too. I remembered my coach saying, "the only way your plan won't work is if you go out too hard, or mess up your hydration". I definitely wasn't going out too hard, so I stayed calm. Because of all the pre-race craziness, it took me a while to relax and get my mind settled down. At about mile 3 was when I kind of "woke up" and started smiling.

Things that made me happy- Seeing lots of friends along the way (including Beverly at Audubon Park- THANKS for coming out, girl!). Cheering for the guy leading the race as he came the other way down St. Charles (I was only at mile 5 or 6 at that point!). The Team Spot-Tees aid station at mile 8, where everyone was dressed as vampires, complete with fake blood and bats hanging from the trees. The people playing Chariots of Fire on a big boombox (I told them it made me feel like I should be running in slow motion). The spectator with his mp3 player rigged up to a megaphone so we could all hear it. The guy who dropped his Gu packet and actually stopped to pick it up.

Things that irritated me- There was just one really. Between mile 8 and 9 I must have run through at least three clouds of cigarette smoke from the spectators. Seriously, people??

So I ended up going out very conservatively. At about mile 8 I decided it was game time and I needed to start really getting after it. I picked up the pace to about 8:00, then to about 7:45 a mile or so later and held that to the finish. It got tough and I got tired, but nothing ever really hurt (like the inside of my ankle did at Vegas) so I thought that was really good. I definitely had to do some serious self-pep-talks in the last two miles or so though! There were tons of spectators lining the course for the last few tenths of a mile. That was great. Rounding the final turn and seeing the finish line just up ahead was even better! Chip time was 1:46:28. A new PR- woot!


Cooldown and post-race:
Ate some bananas, walked around, found Marcos. Watched the marathon winner finish. Saw Coach Kevin and Coach Rick again. Came back home and did a warm-down jog with Marcos and Kai. Texted my coach :)


Now it's time for my favorite race day tradition- the post-race pizza! Domino's, here I come!