Las Vegas Marathon - December 2nd, 2007

Goal:
To finish, enjoy the journey and have fun, just bring it!

Pre-Race:
I got sick the Monday of Thanksgiving week. I lingered on the voice of positive thinking and kept telling myself I would be fine for my marathon. That following Monday I was diagnosed with a sinus infection….ughhh…I have only 6 days to get rid of this. I had done my last long run on November 18th and I was able to get 2 runs in just prior to my event. Not a lot of time on my feet but I as I have heard, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”

Nutrition: Consisted of getting my carbs up from 60% to 70% and fully hydrating those 3 days prior to race.

Day before – Endurolytes and Gatorade Endurance. I had a nice carbo lunch around noon with another meal planned at 5 but was too full from lunch so I ate the 3 remaining breadsticks and headed to bed at 6pm.

Race Day:
I woke up at 2 am and had two servings of oatmeal and granola. I head back to bed and awake at 4 am to get the bagel and PB down with my H2O. I throw in some coffee because this is part of my normal routine. I wake up Kevin at both of these times and make him eat with me. I have exceeded my normal eating regimen. I am feeling a little ill and at one point start to go thru the motion of yaking, you know the start of the cough. I tell myself it will be ok and to take deep breaths, I am fine.

The two of us take off at 4:45 so we can get over to the Mandalay Bay hotel where the race will commence. We are in the lobby of the Monte Carlo hotel and I am starting to get a little emotional. I start to think that maybe I am not ready and start to devise what plan B and C will look like. My eyes are starting to fill and than I tell myself to snap out of it for 1) I am in a smoke filled casina that smells stale and 2) its not the time to get emotional as there will be plenty of time to do that later and 3) I tell myself to HTFU.

Kevin and I arrive at the Mandalay Bay and head out to the start line. By now all my friends know that I have the smallest bladder in the world and I always have to pee every 15 minutes. I try to hold as long as possible but 5:30 wins over. I head to the start line to get ready for the race and a nice photographer takes our pre-race picture. Kevin and I tell each to have a great race, give each other kudos for the training each of us has put in and a kiss for good luck. It takes a few minutes to get to the start so Kevin and I run together before he takes off. I won’t see him until the finish line.

My Plan:
Most folks know that I signed up for CDA IronMan which is on June 22nd, 2008. Now I get a little emotional when I think about this day. If you know me than you know the longest run I had done was 6 miles, a ¼ mile swim, and a 15 mile bike ride. I would like to say that I was medicated or drunk when I signed up but can say neither of these occurred. I still to this day don’t know what happened but that I have never regretted this decision to sign up. I decide that I want to do a marathon before my actual training begins in January 2008; I want to know what kind of pain I should be looking forward to. So here I am.

Now….my plan today is to listen to my coach and follow her plan and run at HR. I have also been strict orders to stop at every aid station and get water. I am taking gels every 30 minutes starting 10 minutes before the race. Not in the plan was the enduralytes I take every hour, but I was afraid to cramp up so I threw this in for good measure. I should get an A for thinking outside the Box.

I start off well and also with a full bladder, oh well nothing I can do now. I don’t know where I am at in pace so I tell myself not to worry and to just to run. I find mile marker 3 and stop and get in the porta-potty line. Drag. I get back on course and realize that with all my adrenaline I have I have to go potty again. Mile 6 back in the porta-potty line. The girl behind me reminds me that we have been in line for 2 minutes and haven’t even gotten in yet. Yikes! I get back on the course and guess what mile 9 I am back in the porta-potty line. Drag. The good news is that I tell myself I have completed a third of the course. I am happy.

I stop at every aid station and I linger a little longer than I should but I am absorbing the ambiance, my journey.

I am running at a slow HR and people are passing me like crazy. I tell myself not to worry about it. Around mile 11 I look at where I should be for my goal and realize I am about 13 minutes off. I panic for a minute and realize that I shouldn’t be sweating the small stuff and I should just go with the flow. I hit the 13.1 mile point, half way at 2.40. Yippee. I tell myself that I am starting a second loop and how fun it will be.

I start to have issues with my watch and my HR is starting to freak out, which in turn is causing me to panic just a touch. For about 2 miles my watch is freezing up and HR is going from 122 to 84 to 122 to 150….nothing consistent. I try to feel out where I should be and at this point I am looking for my pacers that I have tracked during my first half of the race. No consistent pacers but my watch is working again, excellent. I decide to take another pee break at mile 15. I quickly get in and out as I realize I have a lot of wasted time on pee breaks. I will have to make up the time but I will not do it with my HR. I decide to take shorter walks at the aid stations.

Mile 15….I will be making history. I will have gone further than I have ever gone on any one of my runs. At this point I am all smiles and I can’t shake the grin I have from ear to ear.

Mile 17 – Legs are feeling a little tired but I have my music, and most of all I have heart. I remind myself that I can here with a plan and that I am going to stick to it 100%. I also tell myself that I believe in me and I can do this. I will HTFU.

I run…and run and I even shout the Forest Gump saying of “Run, Forest, Run” except mine is “Run, Jennifer, Run”. I am a little tired but tell myself my feet are like feathers and I practice good running form. I am proud of myself and I have come this far.

Mile 20 -I kick up my heart rate a few beats and tell myself I only have a 10k left, not too much left to run. I now pull out my Coke that I have in my water bottle. I have waited 4 hours to drink this as I only have it around the last hour of my run. It’s the best sugar I have ever tasted. I don’t drink soft drinks but this I have to have. This will get me thru my last 6 miles.

I have been playing cat and mouse with the pacers I scanned early in the race but right around the time I start to have my coke I decide to skip every other water station to cut down on time. I stay consistent and keep strong those last three miles. I also keep my eyes on my pacers which are now behind me. I come around the corner to see the finish line and give it one last sprint across the finish line giving hi-fives to the folks handing out medals.

Clock Time: 05:11:47
Chip Time: 05:08:38
Overall Place 3230/4290
Gender Place 1054/1588
Division Place 217
Split 30k 3:42:27
Pace 11:46.5
Half 2:40:58

This is one of the happiest days in my life:)

In every other race I have been blessed to not feel any pain in my legs until at least the following day, but my legs they feel pain now...I keep moving. Kevin and I decide to get to the hotel quickly as it is hard to walk now. I am shuffling to my hotel at a very slow pace….why did I do this again??? oh yeah…closer to my IM goal.

“Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.” – Ronald E. Osborn

IM Inspiration

This was sent over from one of my teammates and I find this truly inspiring.

Wonderful reading…from a friend of a friend of a friend to Hurricane Bob.

Guys...
This was originally in 2002, as a response to Emily (Tri Chick) and her taper woes. Since then, I've been very honored to seen it take off and become this great, self-sustaining piece of love, shared with anyone and everyone who races IM. I've posted it to Slowtwitch (and will do so again shortly), but it now has started to appear in some form before many other IM's. I hope it helps, as always.So without further adieu, to those of you heading to Ironman Canada next week - to the IM-Virgins, the veterans, and everyone in-between...

Right now you've all entered the taper. Perhaps you've been at this a few months, perhaps you've been at this a few years. For some of you this is your first IM, for others, a long-overdue welcome back to a race that few can match.

You've been following your schedule to the letter. You've been piling on the mileage, piling up the laundry, and getting a set of tan lines that will take until November to erase.

Long rides were followed by long runs, which both were preceeded by long swims, all of which were followed by recovery naps that were longer than you slept for any given night during college.

You ran in the snow.
You rode in the rain.
You ran in the heat.
You ran in the cold.

You went out when others stayed home.

You rode the trainer when others pulled the covers over their heads.

You have survived the Darwinian progression that is an Ironman summer, and now the hardest days are behind you. Like a climber in the Tour de France coming over the summit of the penultimate climb on an alpine stage, you've already covered so much ground...there's just one more climb to go. You shift up, you take a drink, you zip up the jersey; the descent lays before you...and it will be a fast one.

Time that used to be filled with never-ending work will now be filling with silent muscles, taking their final, well-earned rest. While this taper is something your body desperately needs, Your mind, cast off to the background for so very long, will start to speak to you.

It won't be pretty.

It will bring up thoughts of doubt, pain, hunger, thirst, failure, and loss. It will give you reasons why you aren't ready. It will try and make one last stand to stop you, because your brain doesn't know what the body already does.

Your body knows the truth:

You are ready.

Your brain won't believe it. It will use the taper to convince you that this is foolish - that there is too much that can go wrong.

You are ready.

Finishing an Ironman is never an accident.

It's the result of dedication, focus, hard work, and belief that all the long runs in January, long rides in April, and long swims every damn weekend will be worth it. It comes from getting on the bike, day in, day out. It comes from long, solo runs. From that first long run where you wondered, "How will I ever be ready?" to the last long run where you smiled to yourself with one mile to go...knowing that you'd found the answer.

It is worth it. Now that you're at the taper, you know it will be worth it. The workload becomes less. The body winds up and prepares, and you just need to quiet your worried mind. Not easy, but you can do it.

You are ready.

You will walk into the lagoon on August 26th with 2000 other wide-open sets of eyes. You will look upon the sea of humanity, and know that you belong. You'll feel the chill of the water crawl into your wetsuit, and shiver like everyone else, but smile because the day you have waited for for so VERY long is finally here.

The bagpipers will walk across the beach. Steve King will ask you to sing along. You will.
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

You will tear up in your goggles. Everyone does.
The helicopters will roar overhead. Maranatha will roar. The splashing will surround you.

You'll stop thinking about Ironman, because you're now racing one.

The swim will be long - it's long for everyone, but you'll make it. You'll watch as the Penticton Lakeside Hotel grows and grows, and soon you'll hear the end. You'll come up the beach and head for the wetsuit strippers. Three people will get that sucker off before you know what's happening, then you'll head for the bike.

In the shadows on Main Street you'll spin out of town - the voices, the cowbells, and the curb-to-curb chalk giving you a hero's sendoff. You won't wipe the smile off your face for miles as you whisk along the lakeside, past fully stocked, silent aid stations for the run to come.

You'll spin up McLean Creak Road. You'll roll down towards Osoyoos, past the vineyards glowing in the morning sun. You'll settle down to your race.

The crowds will spread out on the road. You'll soon be on your bike, eating your food on your schedule, controlling your Ironman.

Richter Pass will come. Everyone talks about it, but it's really nothing. You'll know this halfway up, as you're breathing easy and climbing smoothly. Look to your right. Look how high you're climbing. Look at all the bikes below, still making their way there. You're ahead of them. All of them.

You'll climb over Richter, and descend to the valley below. You'll ride the rollers, one at a time. You'll start to feel that morning sun turn to afternoon sun. It's warmer now. Maybe it's hot. Maybe you're not feeling so good now. You'll keep riding. You'll keep drinking. You'll keep moving.

After all, this is just a long training day with valet parking and catering, right?

You'll put the rollers behind you. You'll head into the Cawston out and back. You'll put on your game face, fighting the urge to feel down as you ride the wrong way for what seems like hours. 10 miles in, you reach special needs, fuel up, and head out.
By now it'll be hot. You'll be tired. Doubts will fight for your focus. Everyone struggles here. You've been on that bike for a few hours, and stopping would be nice, but you won't - not here. Not today. You'll ride on leaving Cawston behind you and head for the final showdown at Yellow Lake.

You'll grind the false flats to the climb. You'll know you're almost there. You'll fight for every inch of road. You'll make the turn towards the summit as the valley walls close in for the kill, and put your head down. The crowd will come back to you here - the cars are always waiting to cross the summit, and you'll soon be surrounded in the glorious noise that is the final climb of Ironman Canada. Let their energy push you. Let them see your eyes. Smile when they cheer for you - your body will get just that little bit lighter.

Grind. Fight. Suffer. Persevere. Summit.

Just like that, you'll be descending. 12 miles to go, and no climbing left. You'll plunge down the road, swooping from corner to corner, chaining together the turns, tucking on the straights, letting your legs recover for the run to come - soon! You'll roll back into town - you'll see people running out. You'll think to yourself, "Wasn't I just here?" The noise will grow. The chalk dust will hang in the air - you're back in Penticton, with only 26.2 miles to go. You'll relax a little bit, knowing that even if you get a flat tire or something breaks here, you can run the damn bike into T2.

You'll roll into transition. 100 volunteers will fight for your bike. You'll give it up and not look back. You'll have your bag handed to you, and into the tent you'll go. You'll change. You'll load up your pockets, and open the door to the last long run of your Ironman summer - the one that counts.

You'll take that first step of a thousand...and you'll smile. You'll know that the bike won't let you down now - the race is down to your own two feet. The same crowd that cheered for you in the shadows of the morning will cheer for you in the brilliant sunshine of a Penticton summer Sunday. High-five people on the way out. Smile. Enjoy it. This is what you've worked for all year long.

That first mile will feel great. So will the second. By mile 3, you probably won't feel so good.
That's okay. You knew it couldn't all be that easy. You'll settle down just like you did on the bike, and get down to your pace. You'll see the leaders coming back the other way. Some will look great - some won't. You might feel great, you might not. No matter how you feel, don't panic - this is the part of the day where whatever you're feeling, you can be sure it won't last.
You'll keep moving. You'll keep drinking. You'll keep eating. Maybe you'll be right on plan - maybe you won't. If you're ahead of schedule, don't worry - believe. If you're behind, don't panic - roll with it. Everyone comes up with a brilliant race plan for Ironman, and then everyone has to deal with the reality that planning for something like Ironman is like trying to land a man on the moon. By remote control. Blindfolded.

How you react to the changes in your plan will dictate your day. Don't waste energy worrying about things - just do what you have to when you have to, and keep moving. Keep eating. Keep drinking. Just don't sit down - don't EVER sit down. You'll make it to halfway at OK Falls. You'll load up on special needs. Some of what you packed will look good, some won't. Eat what looks good, toss the rest. Keep moving. Start looking for people you know. Cheer for people you don't. You're headed in - they're not. They want to be where you are, just like you wanted to be when you saw all those fast people headed into town. Share some energy - you'll get it right back.
Run if you can. Walk if you have to. Just keep moving.

The miles will drag on. The brilliant Penticton sunshine will yawn, and head for the mountains behind the bike course...behind that last downhill you flew down all those hours ago. You'll be coming up to those aid stations you passed when you started the bike...fully alive with people, music, and chicken soup. TAKE THE SOUP. Keep moving.

You'll soon only have a few miles to go. You'll start to believe that you're going to make it. You'll start to imagine how good it's going to feel when you get there. Let those feelings drive you on. When your legs just don't want to move anymore, think about what it's going to be like when someone catches you...puts a medal over your head...
...all you have to do is get there.

You'll start to hear town. People you can't see in the twilight will cheer for you. They'll call out your name. Smile and thank them. They were there when you left on the bike, and when you came back, when you left on the run, and now when you've come back.

You'll enter town. You'll start to realize that the day is almost over. You'll be exhausted, wiped out, barely able to run a 10-minute mile (if you're lucky), but you'll ask yourself, "Where did the whole day go?" You'll be standing on the edge of two feelings - the desire to finally stop, and the desire to take these last moments and make them last as long as possible.

You'll hit mile 25. You'll turn onto Lakeside Drive. Your Ironman Canada will have 1.2 miles - just 2KM left in it.

You'll run. You'll find your legs. You'll fly. You won't know how, but you will run. You'll make the turn in front of the Sicamous in the dark, and head for home. The lights will grow brighter, brighter, and brighter. Soon you'll be able to hear the music again. This time, it'll be for keeps.

You'll listen for Steve King, or Mike Reilly, or Whit Raymond. Soon they'll see you. Soon, everyone will see you. You'll run towards the lights, between the fences, and into the nightsun made just for you.

They'll say your name. You'll keep running. Nothing will hurt.

The moment will be yours - for one moment, the entire world will be looking at you and only you.You'll break the tape. The flash will go off.

You'll stop. You'll finally stop. Your legs will wobble their last, and suddenly...be capable of nothing more.

Someone will catch you. You'll lean into them.It will suddenly hit you.

You will be an Ironman.

You are ready.

Hurricane Bob* You are ready. *

Issaquah Salmon Days Rotary Run October 7th, 2007

I felt very good today as I had my day planned for my Sunday run. I got up at 6:30 am, got dressed and went and ate breakfast. Had the breakfast of champions, toast and peanut butter 2 pop-tarts, coffee and sugar and 16 oz of water to sip on my way to Issaquah. I chatted with my mom who was going to watch the girls and than left the house at 7:55 am. I arrived at G.I.Joes at 8:20, picked up my packet and met my running mate Karla. I also saw a few of my other co-workers Beth, Sarah and Kathleen, which was awesome.

I headed for a quick potty break, did a quick stretch and than off to the start line at 9:00. Karla and I positioned ourselves right in the middle of the pack. I had a band on my wrist that said my running times at each mile which I looked at often and also kept an eye on my HR. The first two miles we did at a steady slow rate and were a little behind target (30 seconds) We than kicked it up and ran a steady fast pace for miles 2 thru 6. We found new targets that were going the same pace and kept them in our view the entire race. My friend was a little quiet for the latter of the miles which made me think I was talking too much. I tried to stay positive by saying things like, HR right on target, we are coming home, we are doing great. I think I tried to be funny at one point and mention that next time I won’t be wearing thong underwear for a raceJ

I got to mile 6 and I told myself that I would sprint the last .2 to the finish line. As we neared the 6 mile mark we both took off. About 5 seconds into my sprint I felt like an idiot for going so quick because I all of a sudden I felt like I had nothing to give, oh well too late now. There were a couple of spectators that said nice pace, way to keep it going till the end. I felt like I couldn’t slow down so I tried to keep a nice pace till the very end and as I crossed the finish line I looked at my watch and realized I stayed right on pace to what my plan was.

This was a perfect race and was nicely planned. I stayed focus, consistent for each mile and the most fun of all did it with a good friend of mine.

Miles: 6.2
Gun Time: 1:00:04
Chip Time: 59:30:9
Pace: 9:35
Overall -434/562
Div Place- 32/46
Sex Place- 177/271

Race Report – Beaver Lake Triathlon

August 18, 2007
.25 mile swim, 13.8 mile Bike, 4.3 mile run

Goals:
To have an excellent race and do better than I did last year.

Pre-race:
The last day I really worked out was Monday. I’ve had really bad shin splints and been pretty tired. I skipped out on many workouts and on Friday I made a conscious decision to skip out on my open water swim. I am pretty hard on myself and so going out the day before a race would have been nerve racking. I packed everything the night before and woke up at 5:30 am. I ate toast with PB and drank about 10 oz water and than helped pack the car with all the gear. I fed the girls and helped get them ready for our Saturday outing. I had two pop-tarts and coffee and off to Beaver Lake. My stomach feels a little woozy but trying to not focus on it.

Swim:
I stayed to the left and let others go in front of me. I am a nervous swimmer so I started to do the breast-stroke right before the first buoy. I switched between the breast-stroke and the free-style for the entire swim but kept myself calm. I choose to not look at my heart rate or look at my watch to see how fast or slow I was going. I focused on just getting to shore. I stayed calm on the free-style and stayed between my two strokes. I looked at my watch on my way out and saw a low 11 minute number and thought that was cool.
<11:05>

T1:
I came into T1 with a pretty steady run. My goal was to have fast transitions and so I placed my goggles on my head when I came out of the water. I than took my watch off and started to proceed with the peeling of the suit. I reached my gear and bike and realized that I hadn’t even taken off my hat, goggles or ear plugs. I carefully put all 3 items in my bag as I am pretty attached to my ear plugs and didn’t want to lose anything. I placed my watch on my bike and away I went running bare-footed. I successfully mounted my bike with my shoes attached into the bike.
<2:06>

Bike:
I was settling into my bike and as I took a sip from my lemon-lime Gatorade I realized that my stomach was really queasy. I didn’t feel so hot so I kept telling myself that I was fine and that I had no choice but to drink my juice and just take it easy. My coach told me to stay calm and save some energy for the run. I kept a great pace and remained calm even though my hr wouldn’t drop. Something about races and my hr, and the HR always wins with being high. I thought about taking a GU prior to climbing the hills at mile 7 but realized that my stomach could not take it and I should definitely not attempt this. My chain felt odd at times thru the ride but nothing that really alarmed me. I was starting to climb the hills and so I settled into my little ring and started to get into my lowest gear. My gears made a terrible sound and before I knew it I had lost my chain. I jumped off my bike fixed it and than off I went. I took about 2 minutes, oh well not bad. I put my gear in the lowest gear and bam off went my chain again. Same routine and back on my bike. I realized at this point that my gears were acting up and so I needed to take it easy on my gears. I had a ways to climb and so I attempted my lowest gear again and bam…lost chain. I fixed this again and thought the third time is a charm and my goal was to get back to park. Back on my bike again and I need to climb the hills so I need to be on the lowest gear …again moved into the lowest gear and lost chain. I think I cussed pretty loudly this time and actually thought about a DNF for this race. I was mad and my bike wouldn’t do what I needed to. I did this route 3 times and had great times and here I was not able to get in my lowest gear and climb the hill. I calmed down, fixed my chain, mounted my bike and than proceeded up the hill. I crossed my fingers and slowly went to the second lowest gear and stayed there for a few minutes and than attempted the lowest gear. I was safe. 7 minutes total in dealing with the chain…oh well. I gained speed going down the hill and than decided for the last hill that I would not go into my lowest gear since my bike could not handle it. I reached the top of the hills and was doing great and realized I would be over my time only by a few minutes. I took GU, finished my juice while still on my bike and than off to the dismount area where I jumped off my bike…shoes still on bike. I head to transition.
<51:54>

T2:
Successful dismount and off to get my running gear. I was so jumpy and so I had to tell myself to stay calm. I put my socks, shoes on, grabbed race belt and hat and off I headed out of transition. I forgot my watch so back I went to grab it and get on the run course. In grabbing my watch I messed something up so not sure where I am at this point.
<1:45>

Run:
I hate the first 5 minutes of any run after a bike as my legs always feel like Jello and I find my self singing the J-e-l-l-o song. I start to feel that the GU is not settling and I feel gut rot coming on. I am thinking too that this tri is only a fraction of the IronMan distance and that maybe I was too hasty in signing up for IM CDA as I am already tired.
I don’t feel too hot. I step on a small rock on the outside of my right shoe and Oh crap down I come. I felt like a ninja and somehow managed to do a roll of some type. I am not hurt and a few folks ask me if I am ok. Pride is hurt but nothing else seems to be out of whack. I have too much adrenalin flowing thru me so even if I was hurt I wouldn’t have noticed. I tell myself that if I want to do well I need to be in the here and now and focus on the race. I remind myself that I love to run, that this is my favorite part and what a great runner I am. I settle in around mile one and tell myself to have fun for the rest of the run. I see my co-worker Brad and he looks great. I decide to use him as a pacer and that last about 10 seconds as he is pretty quick and almost out of site around the bends in the road. Who am I kidding???? Brad is an alpha in the boot camp class he is in…I am a Bravo. I start to sing a sing which is a mix of the “DO RE ME FA SO LA TI DO” song and the “train that can”, but substitute the words so it goes like this “I can do this….I can do this….Yes I can yes I can..I can do this…I can do this.” This goes on for over 2 miles. The last mile I start to run a little quicker and tell myself that I can do anything for 10 minutes. I gain speed the last few minutes and I beat two dudes coming in to the finish line.
<39:31>

Post-Race:
After the race I am disappointed that I didn’t make my overall goal of 1:40-1:43. Not too excited about the bike ride or my graceful fall either so a little disappointed overall. Later in the day after naps I start to look at my accomplishments and that I did have a great race, because along the many different events I could have quit. All in all I am super excited about my results and look forward to next year.

Results:
2006 - Place 480/491 finishers 2:11:57 swim -0:12:55 T1- 3:56 Bike - 1:06:21 T2 - 4:38 Run - 0:44:07
2007 – Place 306/457 finishers 1:46:21 swim -0:11:05 T1 - 2:06 Bike - 0:51:54 T2 - 1:45 Run - 0:39:31

Half Marathon and Lake Stevens PR's all over the place

ok...it's so early I must be crazy for being out of bed.

Sunday was way cool. Kevin had a PR with 1:36 for his first half marathon. He floored me when he said he could do the time and there his was at the finish line, right on time. Kids were super excited to see him and they told them how proud they were of him. They could also have been exited too because the pirates that were giving away the finisher medals also had stickers. Needless to say the kids got stickers, candy and oreo's and thought DAD was pretty cool.

My friend Beth completed the half marathon too. She did great considering she had been sick the previous two weeks and this course was super hilly. I think all in all her time difference was 8 minute difference, which is fantastic.

Right after the half marathon we headed up to Lake Stevens to watch our friends Scott, Mark and Jennifer compete in half IM. This race in specific is a qualifier for the 70.3 half Ironman which will be hosted in Florida.

Race was awesome to watch especially watching the athletes come in with super fast times. Man to see those folks and how they make it look easy, is way cool. Our friend Scott's goal was to come in under 5 hours....can he do it. We see him come around the corner...not sure how many miles he has left...than we see him come to the corner where he can go left to do a second lap and right to the finish line. He comes to the right and there under the time says 5:06. Considering that the elites start early you essentially have to take this time from the clock. Scott's time was 4:48 a PR and a spot to Florida. WAY to go Scott. Mark had a PR on his time which is about 10 minutes better than his other half great job! Cool stuff...improvement...what we always want. I am not sure how Jennifer placed as she mentioned this was a training day for her so that is cool too. Kids had fun as they love there new friends Scott and Mark. I even think the girls gave Mark a kiss on the cheek to tell him good job...he is gaining points:)

We are headed home to lounge around. Kevin's friend Benny is headed over to stay the night as he has a bus. meeting this week and didnt want to travel in the AM. Benny brought over his bike and he plans to do the STP so we will have to see how he does later this week. 204 miles on a bike that's gonna cause some chaffing.

than we headed ff to bed as we had to work in the morning. My lotto ticket has yet to be purchased so I guess no complaints to why I have not won, maybe this week my luck will change. Than I can be one of these freeks that keeps their job and says how they just love their job:) Truth is I do love my job. I should start to do some is the reason I got up early.

First Blog

It's 9:39 pm and I am getting the death look from Kevin that he is tired and wants to go to bed. He does have a half marathon to run in the morning so I know what he is saying. Right after the marathan we are off to Lake Stevens to support friends for their half IM.

Good luck to our friends Scott, Mark and Jennifer!!! You will do awesome!!!!

Ok...first blog is short and I will have much more to report tomorrow:) Time for bed.