Annapolis 10 Miler

Time to Run in the Annapolis 10 Miler!
The race is one of the more popular running races in the Metro DC area, and one leg of the "Triple Crown" of 10 milers. (The others are the Cherry Blossom and the Army 10 Miler.) The Annapolis 10 Miler differs from the other two in that there's a true post race party, with beer at the finish line. And the give-aways to runners (at least the ones that finish) are fabulous!

I joined Carol in the morning pre-race at packet pickup, but missed her at the starting line (bummer).

I was not quite sure what to expect. My running has been light lately, with something in the range of 4 to 6 miles being my "long runs". I planned on taking it easy, implementing a run-walk plan as I would do for a long training run.

The race held up to its reputation as being hot. There were 5000 runners and the residents of Annapolis greated us with sprinklers in hand to keep us cool.

I kept up a decent 10-minute pace for the first half, slowing to about an 11:15 pace the second, partly due to the hillier second half.

I was glad to have felt better than I expected and managed to finish in about 1:43. As expected, the finisher give-away was fabulous: a women's (it's so nice when gear is separated for men and women!) long-sleeve run pull-over. (And I lost my timing chip pre-race, so I won't have an official finish time, so I'm going off my watch...)

Great race, great day, time for a nap....

Luray Triathlon Weekend

Off to the races in Luray, Virginia!

The Luray Triathlon is a grassroots 2-day triathlon festival, with an international distance triathlon (1500 meter swim, 25 mile bike, 10K run) on Saturday and sprint distance (750 meter swim, 17 mile bike, 5K run) on Sunday.

Last year I did the international distance, but this year, I elected to take it a little easier. I participated in a relay with two other ladies on Saturday, and was scheduled to do the sprint on Sunday (but did not quite do it... more on that momentarily).

I met my relay teammates for the first time on Saturday morning: Michelle and Johanna. I was slated to ride the bike. My biking has been a little weak as of late, and at some point, I need to get some mileage up to be able to ride more at 24 Hours of Booty. Hmmmm.

Michelle swam, and upon her exit, I headed out on the course. The course was billed as challenging, but it was on par to our normal training rides. (Granted, my participation in Team Z training rides has been rather limited as of late. My bike rides have generally consisted of a solo ride on the essentially flat trails in Metro Washington D.C.) Nevertheless, I knew the ride would be doable.

The course had some fun decents. I topped out at 67.2 km/hr. (My bike computer is in metric and I have no clue how to fix that....) (Anyway, that's 41.8 mph for the metric measurements impaired.)

My legs were not quite accustomed to hammering on the bike. Early on in the course, my left calf severely cramped up. It was almost paralyzing. I cursed up and down to myself, begging my body to ease up a bit. I spun easily for a while, and luckily, the cramping relaxed. Whew! It was going to be a very long ride for me otherwise.

The course had some false flats. These have a tendency to cause mind games. Are the breaks rubbing? Am I that out of shape? Ugh.

Continuing on...

In about the last 5 miles of the course, my right leg started to give me grief. No cramping, per say, but a sort of numbness. My foot seemed to be on the verge of falling asleep. I was grateful that I only needed to finish the bike ride and my race would be over, rather than needing to run.

The race is billed as a 25-mile bike course. Hmmm. It's a little longer than that. For a little extra bit of punishment, the toughest climb on the course is right where the 25-mile mark is located. A little sufferfest. I went a little harder on it, passing people, but cheered them on, indicating I was merely participating in a relay.

Bike finish: 1:35:49

As for our relay finish, we knew we were going to be in the middle of the pack. Our team finished in 3:16:45.

After the race, it was time to let loose in true Team Z fashion. We chilled out at the tent, feasted on food, and drank beer. In time, some of the frivolity got a little ugly. I was a spectator, not a participant, to the Beer Pong tourney. I at least encouraged a group to play a game of Apples to Apples with me... a non drinking game. (The older I get, the less beer I can drink. In fact, I almost have an aversion to beer these days. Can still drink wine, thank goodness.)

Sunday morning was the sprint triathlon. I was signed up for it, but turned out I had to leave early from the race. I thought no big deal- I'm not a contender to place in my age group anyway, and really just looking to have the exercise. The race was not my "A" race for the season. Besides, my legs were rather wiped from the day before.

Instead, I decided to do a pre-race brick (bike-run), then swim officially with the race, then depart. Due to time and weary legs, I wound up only biking about 10 miles, and running about 1-1/2 miles.

My swim with the race went fairly well. I swam sans wetsuit, which for a weaker swimmer like me, makes me swim much slower. (Or maybe I am slow regardless?)

Swim: 20:08 (15/23 AG)

Race with just a swim and a pre-race mini-brick? I could get used to this....

Rediscovering Hiking

Ahhh hiking. A workout that doesn't feel like a workout. It's a chance to explore, breathe fresh air, enjoy the peace and quiet, and get in touch with nature. It's rewarding to watch an animal in its natural surroundings, to surmount a climb (and enjoy the view at the top), and in short "get away from it all"... And yet, hiking is great exercise!


Lately, I'm finding myself discovering the vast number of hiking trails around the region. It helps that my boyfriend is on the same kick.

In the past month, we have hiked from Riverbend Park to Great Falls and to Scott's Run Nature Preserve.

Perhaps this blog will start steering away from triathlon adventures toward hiking adventures?