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Chronicles of a fish: the days of surf and turf
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Odin Drab Firefighter wrote: »A little pic to remember a few of us
Hey....not a bad pic of we three hoochies, but I have to say that may be the best pic of Kurt I've seen to date! Must be the company he is in that is giving him that special glow.
:D 0 -
Dublin City Marathon
Monday, October 28th, 2013
I touched down in Dublin the Friday before the race after a soul stealing sleepless flight from the states that started the previous day. Poor interested was saddled with the responsibility of fetching "haggard and homeless Dory" at the airport, and then had the daunting task of assisting me with all my luggage.
The good news is, I had an emergency "beautification" bag at the ready on the plane to stop the bleeding.....the bad news is, interested's back may never be the same after lifting my oversized bags that cost me an extra $200 at check-in due to the excess weight. :eek: Ouch!!!
The 72 hours leading up to the race were a whirlwind of fun that included the following fast and furious highlights:
Friday included a failed attempt at a nap due to too much damn excitement, a bowl of amazing oyster/seafood stew at a gorgeous pub, a quick and dirty tour of the city, a fab drive along some of the coast, and the realization that it's quite possible interested was a Formula 1 driver in his former life. Monte Carlo much, interested??
Saturday included the customary "I've never met you but welcome to Ireland" massage by ecoli, a trip to the Expo to pick up my bib and hook up with Marthastew and all the various other stews who were in Expo attendance, an up close and personal introduction to the game "Taxi and Bus" by the little wee-stews immediately as I hopped into the back seat of the car with them which then set off a chain reaction of apologies by their parental units and windows being furiously rolled down, and a fun potluck dinner with the running club known fondly as the Crusaders-stew where I ate beetroot under the indirect suggestion of Krusty Clown.
Sunday started out with an extra hour of sleep which somehow meant that I had an extra hour to cram things into the normally allotted 24 hours, so the day included a 30 minute recovery run and brunch with even more of the stew clan (Marthastew, hubby-stew, meno-stew and ecoli-stew were in attendance for the run....claralara-stew and officer-dig-my-guns-stew showed up in time to tie on the feed bag...and emer-stew made her appearance just before the dishes were being cleared); an exciting ceremonial placement of the (headless) Child of Prague statue in the garden by Marthastew to ensure sunshine for race day (it's only weird if it doesn't work ); a non-Monte Carlo-esque lift to my pre-race hotel by the Officer and a Gentleman himself; a deep, snore-fest of a float which forced the poor gal who worked at the float place to go off script and enter new territory by calling in the special troops when she was unable to rouse me from my slumber (I was very tired, way too relaxed and wearing earplugs forgoodnesssakes!!!); and then finally the evening meal shared with Ms. Ironwoman herself (also known as triathlon Barbie and/or Oryx, for those not sure ), interested, and my Irish cousin and his girlfriend. Whew! That was my warmup for what was to come.
I woke up the next morning and it was race day. In Ireland. Wow. Race day in Ireland. Double wow. I stuck to my usual breakfast of Cheerios, milk, orange juice and a banana....and after a shower and some Green Day to get my head to where it needed to be, I was out the door and into the streets following the excited masses to the start line by way of a very long loo queue. As luck would have it, moments after I got stuck in the loo queue, Oryx was there as well not that far behind me. The time was 8:20. Forty minutes to the start. Surely enough time to take care of business and hook up with my pacers before the gun goes off. 8:30, concern for time management was growing, but still confident no heroics would be needed. 8:40, natives getting restless and men dropping like flies, opting for the open air accomodation behind the loos. 8:45, and all hope was lost in Plan A so Plan B was implemented with a time-is-of-the-essence attitude. And as if we had practiced this urban jungle survival technique a million times together, I was joined by my partner in crime, Oryx, never missing a beat and seamlessly moving to the next business at hand once these immediate line-ditching formalities were taken care of in the privacy of Baggot Street and a man with a coat.
Oryx then made it her job to get me to my 3:20 pacers. She bulldozed her way through the crowd, parting the sea of runners for me to pass safely through, and with plenty of time to spare she deposited me behind BeepBeep and the pink compression sock clad jackyback. Those. Socks. Were. Hot.
After hugs and hellos (not necessarily in that order), we were off and running....at a typically slow first mile congested (especially around the corners) pace. No worries, I was in good hands. I noticed my Garmin was off kilter on the second mile. I don't know if I lost satellite or what happened, but the pace for that second mile was way off and the distance was out of synch with the mile markers by about a half of a mile. I'm still not totally sure what was going on, but by the time the race was over my watch was back on 26.2 mile track, so I'm sort of guessing the mile 3 through 26.2 paces recorded by my Garmin might be ~9 seconds or so faster than reality. 
I was looking out for our resident stud muffin, shotgun, hoping I might spot him and have the honor of running with him, but he was nowhere to be found. I wondered if he had decided to use some good judgment and listen to his body, but selfishly I kept my eyes peeled. There was nothing too remarkable about the first 10k or so, other than BeepBeep needing a potty break around mile 4 and jb putting his best cheerleading foot forward with his infectious and uplifting rendition of "Augie Augie Augie, Oi Oi Oi". I was relaxed and enjoying the sunshine and banter around me, and I kept nicely tucked in from what little wind there was at this stage. Water stations were a breeze, and it didn't take me long to recongnize the order of the day by offering my excess water to those around me.
By mile 9 or so I as totally in my groove and minding my own business by watching the path ahead of me and keeping my focus forward. There were plenty of curbs, bumps and medians to mind, but I had it under control, even when a Boy Scout in runners warned me of the elevated concrete patch I was skating up and over at that moment. I thanked him once without expending the energy to look in his direction, but he insisted on engaging me again with a second remark thus forcing me to glance his way. Holy crap, that Boy Scout in runners was shotgun, in the flesh! There were a few squeals of delight, a hug, and then back to business. We ran together for a few miles, but he claims he had to dial it back due to starting with the 3:50 pacers, sprinting to catch me, and then cramping - however, I have to wonder if me nearly knocking him on his arse after he so kindly fetched me a bottle of water didn't play into the equation of self preservation and safety. Any hoo....he left me as quickly as he found me, but I was full of bounce when we parted ways at about the halfway point.
The next 6 miles or so (miles 14 - 19) felt amazing. I concentrated on using as little energy as possible and I tried to make every step count. I got a little ahead of the 3:20 pacers on mile 14, but reeled it back in rather quickly as I knew it was too soon to be making any kind of move. The same thing happened on mile 18 - I just naturally and effortlessly got ahead of the pacers - but this time I believe both jb and I thought I was gone for good. At that moment when jb touched my shoulder in support, I felt a sub 3:20 was very possible.
Ah, but alas, is anything ever that simple? Nope. Once on my own I was exposed to the elements. Granted, Mother Nature was very kind on this day, but by mile 20 the wind had picked up enough that I felt its push, and this took me out of my relaxed and energy conserving pace and form, and I ultimately fell back into the belly of the 3:20 pace group. I regained my composure on mile 21 and was hanging nicely behind jb and his pink socks, however I don't know what happened on mile 25 because in spite of my absolute delight to be within 2 miles of the finish line, my body was pretty much done - it had nothing else to give. I crossed the line 61 seconds outside my dream goal, but I am still pinching myself that I busted through 3:30 the way I did. I'm both pleased with my result and yet still hungry for more. I saw jb immediately after I crossed the finish line with his pink legs up in the air....ecoli was hanging about to give me a post-race high-five....and outside the runners' area was my trusty Irish rock and ultimate anti-coach, interested, waiting to give me a hug. All good.
Post race celebrations in McGrattans with the assortment of boardsies in attendance was much akin to a high-end box of chocolates, but better. It was simply fabulous to finally put faces to names, and perhaps my biggest surprise was when I found myself sitting next to flying mount (or is it dismount?) rockstar, Bambaata. Shucks, if only I had thought to ask him about his approach and technique. Maybe next time. In any event, twas a pleasure meeting everyone. I even collected on my bet with shotgun....or, rather, the rowing medal has been secured, now I just need to hear the story behind the gold.
Actual per official results: 26.2 miles in 3:20:60 for an average pace of 7:40 min/mile:D
(Garmin data - 26.2 miles in 3:20:57 for an average pace of 7:40 min/mile
8:47, 11:04, 7:17, 7:28, 7:22, 7:24, 7:24, 7:17, 7:33, 7:22, 7:21, 7:35, 7:31
7:20, 7:25, 7:34, 7:43, 7:13, 7:32, 7:45, 7:30, 7:29, 7:23, 7:24, 7:48, 7:48, 1:19 (7:22))0 -
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Ha ha love the box o chocs metaphor. Cool report! You are the one gold wrapped chocolate in the box maybe although Oryx might have pinned you right as a nut job. So is Tunney the coffee one the kids don't like and JB a chocolate shortcake?
Story pending postal address. Not posting online!0 -
shotgunmcos wrote: »Ha ha love the box o chocs metaphor. Cool report! You are the one gold wrapped chocolate in the box maybe although Oryx might have pinned you right as a nut job. So is Tunney the coffee one the kids don't like and JB a chocolate shortcake?
Story pending postal address. Not posting online!
Brilliant!!! PM with my address sent. Thanks. 0 -
Monday, November 4th, 2013
Plan::eek::( Um, I don't have a plan. 
A week of chocolate excess and no training to speak of. Wow. So this is what a holiday is, eh? Much more of this and I'll shipped off to the fat-farm, or at least that was my impression first thing this morning after one of my coworkers said, "oh, you've put on some weight while you were away." :eek::eek::eek::( I did eat well these last 7 days....but I had no idea.....
So, on with the winter gear and into the darkness of the evening for my first run post marathon. Legs felt good. No issues to speak of, thank goodness. I kept this super easy and super short. I've a half marathon at the weekend, so even though I have no aspirations to pb in this race, the run is in the back of my mind and I'd like to at least have a decent showing at the weekend.
Actual: 4.33 miles - I'm not sure of the time nor pace as my Garmin has died at the moment - the battery needs to be charged0 -
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Tuesday, November 5th, 2013
Plan: still none
Blech. This was just awful. I'm tired from the trip, suffering from a cold, eating very poorly, and missing Ireland. I opted to do this on the treadmill in the comfort of my basement thinking the climate controlled environment would be a good idea because of the aforementioned issues, but this was a horrible slog that I wanted to be over as soon as it began. Half marathon or no half marathon this weekend, if I feel like this tomorrow I'm taking a rest day.
Actual: 5 miserable miles on the treadie0 -
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Wednesday, November 6th, 2013
Total rest day for me to nurse the cold and rest the body. No guilt. I did, however, wander over to the main tri-forum and stumbled into a thread that was talking about FTP, watts and units....and I honestly didn't have a clue what they were measuring and/or comparing. Whatever. Bike chit chat...I've so much to learn....but more importantly, I just want to ride a bike....very, very, very fast. The next phase is about to begin. 0 -
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I will be watching with interest. I also want to ride my bike very fast, and so far have failed miserably.Wednesday, November 6th, 2013
Total rest day for me to nurse the cold and rest the body. No guilt. I did, however, wander over to the main tri-forum and stumbled into a thread that was talking about FTP, watts and units....and I honestly didn't have a clue what they were measuring and/or comparing. Whatever. Bike chit chat...I've so much to learn....but more importantly, I just want to ride a bike....very, very, very fast. The next phase is about to begin. 0 -
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Thursday, November 7th, 2013
Plan: none to speak of
My cold is much better so I decided to head out for a bit of a trot this evening after work. It was a fair jaunt, but nothing remarkable to speak of. I can tell my body is still run down - all the moving parts are working fine and there seems to be no specific ill effects from the marathon, but I have a general feeling of smoldering fatigue just under the surface. I am under no illusion - this weekend's half marathon has the potential to be a bit low on rocket fuel, so I may need to approach this as something I am doing "just for fun." And maybe if I tell myself that enough times my competitive side will start to believe it.;):)
Actual: 5.13 miles in 42:19.42 for an average pace of 8:15 min/mile0 -
Friday, November 8th, 2013
Plan: nope
I really didn't want to do this little run this evening. What I wanted to do was go home and laze on the couch and not move a muscle. I even started to negotiate with myself about a compromise - swapping the street for the treadmill, but honestly I didn't trust myself enough to go home with treadmill intentions and not make an unscheduled detour to PJs and feet up. But, the funny thing is, once I got going with my winter-ish gear on (was wearing my very stylish hat I secured while in Dublin) I felt pretty good. In fact, I had just about convinced myself that I had lost all my 24 week marathon training fitness since the marathon 11 days ago (funny how the mind works), but this little street jaunt gave me a sliver of hope that perhaps some of that fitness is still there. Not a bad little run.
Actual: 4.26 miles in 35:07.69 for an average pace of 8:15 min/mile0 -
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Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon
Sunday, November 10th, 2013
I had been looking forward to this run ever since I signed up for it months and months ago because of its historic location, uniqueness of the run, and the significance of the route to me. The historic location: the start of this run was at historic Mt. Vernon (George Washington's home), the finish was at the National Harbor, the first 8 miles were on the scenic George Washington National Parkway running along the majestic Potomac River, the next 2 miles were on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge (a drawbridge) as we crossed over the Potomac River from Virginia into Maryland, and the final 3 miles were in and around the National Harbor. The uniqueness of the run: the Park Service closed down the entire stretch of the GW Parkway, thus momentarily loaning us complete ownership of the road....a road that was lined on both sides with seasonally colored trees and lush woods, and with a river parallel to us brilliantly reflecting the sun that was just making its ascent into the sky (7am start!). The significance of the run to me: I was raised in this area - spent loads of time either riding my bike to Old Town on the bike path that runs through the woods between the Parkway and the Potomac River, or in a car heading to swim practice, work, D.C., shopping or some other fun adventure. This is my Parkway. This is my home. This is my motivating sentimentality.
Originally, this event was supposed to be 3 weeks before DCM and done as a training run, but due to our embarrassingly dysfunctional government, it was pushed back to today because of the government shut down in October. I knew in my heart I would not be looking at a PB today - 24 weeks of marathon training that culminated in a nice PB for me in Dublin coupled with two transatlantic flights, lack of any discipline for two weeks in the food and drink department, no quality training to speak of since the marathon, and fighting a cold this week all left me pretty low on rocket fuel - but I'd be lying if I didn't admit to having romantic thoughts of one more PB for the year. But that was not to be on this day. <sigh> In a nutshell, I felt okay for the run. I had my head in the game but honestly my body wanted to be sloppy. I was constantly having to remind myself about form and to relax....and I assume this gravitional pull to sloppiness is classic smoldering fatigue. ??? I knew within the first few miles there would be no PB for me today, so I turned my focus to appreciating the special place I was running in and to letting some wonderful memories of a very magical time in my life flood my mind and my senses.
I really don't want to drone on too much about the run itself because, right or wrong, it just doesn't feel all that special without a PB. The first 8 miles contained some ups and some downs, but they were all relatively gentle in nature. Around the 9.5 mile point it was all uphill for about a mile while crossing the bridge, then a lovely descent, and I picked off many men crossing the bridge. The absolute worst mile was mile 12 as it contained a soul destroying hill that was quite steep, and it was my slowest mile....but I redeemed myself on mile 13 with a sizzling, slightly downhill on gravel mile that was my fastest split of the day (tied with the very first mile of the day). So, at least I ended on a high note.
But perhaps the highest note of the race for me came just after I crossed the finish line and a gentleman came up to me and thanked me for pacing him and helping him achieve a 4 minute PB. We had started running together in complete silence around the 6 mile mark and ran side by side until just before the bridge, where I went ahead. I never saw him after that, but apparently he was behind me the entire way as he crossed the finish just shortly after I did. He was absolutely thrilled and shook my hand in appreciation. His kind words and sincerity were both unexpected and touching to me.
Oh, and I won a little award too. Had no idea until the announcer was announcing the overall winners of the race....was barely even paying attention as I was yucking it up with my brother at the time and never imagined my name was going to be called, but apparently I won Female Grand Master Champion, which is just a very polite way of saying I am way older than I feel, act or care to imagine. I had to go on stage in front of everyone and receive my award and have my picture taken, but I had a good laugh when a gentleman from the audience asked to see my ID. I received a nice trophy, and (this is the best part) I won money! Money!!! I've never won money before. !!! I could get used to this.
Actual per Garmin: 13.3 miles in 1:36:49 for an average pace of 7:17 min/mile
6:51, 7:12, 7:19, 7:22, 7:24, 7:09, 7:17
7:13, 7:32, 7:31, 7:11, 7:48, 6:51, 2:04 (6:54)
Actual per official results: 13.1 miles in 1:36:49 for an average pace of 7:24 min/mile
This marks the end of any races for 2013, so my eyes are already on 2014 and a few events I have on the calendar, primarily the HIM in June. I am physically burned out and emotionally spent at the moment, so I know in my heart I need a little break before I begin the next training cycle. Mentally, taking a break is tough, however, I will do it. I will change things up for a bit - perhaps take this opportunity to reintroduce myself to the bike for some easy spinning. I need to up my cadence anyway, so maybe this is a good time to get used to the feel of the spin. And perhaps some yoga...and strength and conditioning. For a few weeks. And then a new plan will begin. 0 -
Monday, November 11th, 2013
Plan: Day 1 of no running
Yoga. Yoga for runners - injury prevention, specifically. That's it. Oh, but I did make dinner, which is unheard of for me on a Monday night. Homemade creamed chicken and rice. Quite yummy, but no one better get used to such treatment on a Monday as I can promise you it won't become a habit for me.
Actual: Yoga in my great room while sharing my mat with my limber little kitty, Norris, aka Mr. Furry Bum 0 -
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Monday, November 11th, 2013
Plan: Day 1 of no running
Yoga. Yoga for runners - injury prevention, specifically. That's it. Oh, but I did make dinner, which is unheard of for me on a Monday night. Homemade creamed chicken and rice. Quite yummy, but no one better get used to such treatment on a Monday as I can promise you it won't become a habit for me.
Actual: Yoga in my great room while sharing my mat with my limber little kitty, Norris, aka Mr. Furry Bum
Norris gets a mention! Hello Norris! well done on winning female grand master in a race just for fun :-) 0 -
Hi DD, I have to laugh that you were surprised you got an award for the half when you were just jogging around.:rolleyes:
I don’t think you realise the level of performance you are at, so maybe this might put it into some sort of perspective. There is a method of comparing performances of men/women at all age levels in order to help make comparisons with other people of different gender and age. It is based on how far off you are from the world record time for that distance for your gender and your age. Runners World has an age graded calculator where they work it out.
http://www.runnersworld.com/tools/age-graded-calculator
The Age-Graded Score percentage can then be used to compare performances. I am in the low 70’s while you are way up at just above 80%.
To give you a better idea of how good this is; remember the Steamtown marathon we did last year, they gave our age-graded results too but also had an explanation to go along with it.
http://www.runhigh.com/2013RESULTS/AgeGradingExpl.htmlAchievement Levels Within Sex
100% Approximate World Record Level
90%+ World Class
80%+ National Class
70%+ Regional Class
60%+ Local Class
The table above from the explanation puts your score at a National Level!!!:eek: No wonder you were invited to compete in the national triathlon championships. As I said you are WAY ahead of all of us and you just jogged around......Funny 0 -
DukeOfDromada wrote: »Hi DD, I have to laugh that you were surprised you got an award for the half when you were just jogging around.:rolleyes:
I don’t think you realise the level of performance you are at, so maybe this might put it into some sort of perspective. There is a method of comparing performances of men/women at all age levels in order to help make comparisons with other people of different gender and age. It is based on how far off you are from the world record time for that distance for your gender and your age. Runners World has an age graded calculator where they work it out.
http://www.runnersworld.com/tools/age-graded-calculator
The Age-Graded Score percentage can then be used to compare performances. I am in the low 70’s while you are way up at just above 80%.
To give you a better idea of how good this is; remember the Steamtown marathon we did last year, they gave our age-graded results too but also had an explanation to go along with it.
http://www.runhigh.com/2013RESULTS/AgeGradingExpl.html
The table above from the explanation puts your score at a National Level!!!:eek: No wonder you were invited to compete in the national triathlon championships. As I said you are WAY ahead of all of us and you just jogged around......Funny
So, what you're saying is I am actually faster than you....and claralara???!!!:D
It's all very interesting - grading - and I suspect like the Garmin there are some imperfections with its calculations, but I appreciate the spirit of this performance comparison and am flattered that I rank so high. (Cue the "what ifs".) Thanks for posting this. 0 -
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